Total eclipse: The sun and moon put on a 'thrilling' show Monday afternoon

The moon slid slowly across the sun Monday afternoon, appearing to devour it whole, as millions of people gasped, cheered and stood in awe beneath a daytime sky turned dark.

A total solar eclipse, the first in Ohio in more than two centuries, carved a narrow path over North America for several hours, moving southwest to northeast while crowds looked on from state parks and backyards, rooftops and parking lots, and anywhere else offering clear skies and an unobstructed view.

“You look out and where the sun was it is gone,” said Dean Regas, a Cincinnati astronomer. “It is scary. It is eerie. It is awesome.”

Monday delivered on that promise, and then some. First came a barely perceptible dimming of the afternoon sun, then a dusk-like gloom, and then, finally, a sky dark enough to reveal stars. Birds fell silent and outdoor lights flickered on, tricked by the midday darkness and the sudden chill in the air.

As eclipses have throughout human history, this one inspired celebration and wonder, as well as irrational fear.

Several couples in Trenton, Ohio, exchanged wedding vows during the moon’s trek across the sun. Parks swelled with families and friends who ate barbecue and nachos before turning their gaze skyward. Online music services offered eclipse-themed playlists featuring songs like “Blinded by the Light” and “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” School kids in Milford sat on beach towels and donned tinted eclipse glasses, marveling at a spectacle that’s so rare they’ll be older than their grandparents the next time it happens here.

And while scientists seized the opportunity to educate, offering lessons online and in person, internet trolls did what they do best, stirring anxiety by falsely claiming the eclipse would produce harmful radiation or the End of Days.

The world survived, but the day was not without challenges. Cloud cover produced less-than-ideal viewing conditions in parts of Ohio and traffic clogged some roads as eclipse watchers squeezed into small towns and parks along the 115-mile path of totality.

For the most part, though, the eclipse lived up to its billing as a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.

At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, thousands gathered for a kind of total eclipse festival, with food trucks and cookouts and an Air Force Band playing the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”

Anita Dalton drove to the base with her husband from Ironton. They packed salmon, roast beef, cheese and a bottle of champagne.

“It’s just so thrilling,” Dalton said. “It’s a beautiful, natural event. And we love the natural world.”

On the lawn outside Mulberry Elementary School in Milford, children lined up to head outside at 2:50 p.m., about 20 minutes before the peak of the eclipse. They carried beach towels and blankets and eclipse glasses.

Once on the grass, they kicked off their shoes and snuggled in next to friends. As the sun disappeared behind the moon, third grader Xander Bentley shouted a line from the movie “Despicable Me.”

“Tonight, we steal the moon!”

When the moon receded and the light returned, teachers ushered the kids back inside and asked them to write about what they’d just seen.

In Trenton, Mayor Ryan Perry officiated a mass wedding for couples who wanted to make their special day more special. Brides and grooms roamed the park in formal attire, pausing occasionally to put on eclipse glasses and stare at the vanishing sun.

"Why not do something extraordinary during an extraordinary event," said Sarah Leichman, the city employee who came up with the idea. "A wedding is just that. If we're lucky, it's a once in a lifetime event."

For those more interested in worrying than celebrating, the internet did not disappoint. Online tricksters and conspiracy theorists offered up a bounty of bogus claims about globalist plots and Biblical prophecy. Scientists did their best to offer an alternative for those grounded in reality.

Regas, the astronomer, prepared viewers for the big event with a series of videos posted on social media, describing the science behind the eclipse and the best ways to safely watch and record it.

“It will make you laugh, cry, scream, all that and more,” Regas promised before the eclipse, in an interview with The Enquirer’s "That’s So Cincinnati" podcast. “And I’m still not hyping it up enough because it’s better than that.”

Crowds around the region seemed to agree. At Miami Whitewater Forest, as in dozens of other parks in the area, hundreds cheered and clapped as the sun disappeared behind the moon, plunging the park into darkness.

When it was over, they packed up and headed home on roads and highways that offered the more familiar spectacle of a late afternoon traffic jam.

Madeline Mitchell, Grace Tucker and Cara Owsley contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Total eclipse: Sun and moon put on a show in Greater Cincinnati