‘Really enjoyed ourselves;’ People react to solar eclipse at event hosted at local museum

It was a day of excitement at Boonshoft Museum of Discovery as they held their eclipse viewing event that taught kids and families about total solar eclipses.

“One of our favorite things to do here at the museum is just encouraging kids to explore and experience science, especially on a day like this where it’s not going to happen again for a little bit,” A Boonshoft museum employee said.

The event featured pinhole viewers, a box with a small cutout, aluminum foil, and a small hole facing the sun and showing its shadow in the box for children and families to use to view the eclipse without eclipse glasses. There were also telescopes where you could see the eclipse and the sunspots.

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Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist Austin Chaney was at Boonshoft to talk to viewers of this once-in-a-lifetime event.

“It turned pitch black, we couldn’t see anything and it just looked like a black hole. If y’all could have come, it was a black hole and you couldn’t see through it, because there was nothing there,” Imani, a viewer at the museum said.

Someone who had seen a partial eclipse before had a new experience today.

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“It was a lot darker than I had expected, seeing a partial eclipse previously,” A member of the Murray family said.

A few people were shocked by what they saw.

“It got dark all of the sudden, and it got cold, and it got real quiet and it just freaked me out,” Penny Williams said.

And others were so excited they broke out into song and dance after the eclipse reached totality.

“I came out with my friend and we really enjoyed ourselves out here,” Marla Wright said.