Students at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana watch the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Know as the Great American Eclipse at the end, as Southern California’s were able to see the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse at the 50% coverage for Southern California’s were able to see the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
People look through their solar glasses at a partial solar eclipse during a viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
People look through a telescope at a partial solar eclipse during a viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Kids look through a telescope and their solar glasses during a solar eclipse viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California had a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Belen Aguirre uses her eclipse glasses to take a phone photo during an eclipse viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Chou family checks out a partial solar eclipse during a viewing event at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Gemma Jones, 5, gets help closing one eye as she looks through a telescope at a partial solar eclipse during a viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kids look through a telescope and their solar glasses during a solar eclipse viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California had a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Students and staff at Oxford Academy in Cypress catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People look through a telescope and their solar glasses during a solar eclipse viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California had a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Laguna Woods residents watch the partial solar eclipse through special glasses at a viewing party put on by the Astronomy Club on Monday, April 8, 2024. More than 200 people attended the party.(Photo by Mark Rabinowitch)
Laguna Woods residents watch the partial solar eclipse through special glasses at a viewing party put on by the Astronomy Club on Monday, April 8, 2024. More than 200 people attended the party.(Photo by Mark Rabinowitch)
Left: Shadow Hills Elementary School students watch the solar eclipse in Fontana on Monday, April 8, 2024. Approximately 50 perecent of the sun was covered by the moon while totality was seen from Matazlan, Mexico through Texas and the midwest and out through Maine. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) Right: The total eclipse of the sun in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Cloud cover over the Texas partially blocked the view but the eclipse was still visible in many areas. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Riva Karki, 14, a 9th-grade student at Oxford Academy in Cypress, takes a picture with her classmates during the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Phto by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People check out exhibits at the planetarium during an eclipse viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kids check out a partial solar eclipse during a viewing at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA on Monday, April 8, 2024. Southern California saw a partial eclipse with a little over 50% coverage. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
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Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse, a woman brings her parrot as Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Students from Willard Elementary School view the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study hosted a solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Know as the Great American Eclipse starts for Southern California’s were able to see 50% coverage of the moon crossing the sun at the Griffith Park Observatory Monday. Los Angeles CA/USA. April 8, 2024.The next solar eclipse in the USA won’t happen for 20 years till August 12, 2045.(Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Students from Willard Elementary School view the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Iyan Syeed-Miller, 17, a member of Pasadena High School’s Astronomy Club, assists people in viewing the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study hosted a solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study hosted a solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Scott Haas, 52, with his son, Tom, 10, sit together as they gaze at the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
The Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study hosted a solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
A student from Willard Elementary School views the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Children from the Willard Children Center gaze at the solar eclipse during the Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Allison Drake, 17, a member of Pasadena High School’s Astronomy Club, checks a telescope during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Students from Willard Elementary School view the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Students at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana watch the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Ariana Craig, a teacher at Willard Elementary Schoo, views the solar eclipse during Pasadena Unified School District’s Center for Independent Study solar eclipse viewing party for students from various schools and programs at its Wilson campus in Pasadena on Monday, April 8, 2024. While California was not in the path of totality, viewers in Pasadena and the rest of the state saw a partial blocking on the sun. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)
Cristina Reyes, a fifth grade teacher at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana, shows students how to wear solar glasses before the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
The moon’s shadow is cast down from a sunspotter device during the solar eclipse at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Students at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana watch the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Cristina Reyes, a fifth grade teacher at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana, passes out solar glasses to students Monday, April 8, 2024, before the solar eclipse. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
The moon’s shadow is cast down from a sunspotter device during the solar eclipse at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Students at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana watch the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
A student at Shadow Hills Elementary School in Fontana points towards the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Third grade students at Fontana’s Shadow Hills Elementary School Melody Velasco, Corinna Chavez and Giancarlo Hernandez Herrera, all 9, cast the moon’s shadow onto paper using a solar pinhole viewing card as they watch the solar eclipse Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
The solar eclipse begins in Fontana on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Students and staff at Oxford Academy in Cypress catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Katie Kuznik and her dog Mila attended the viewing party. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Sydney Sun and Larrows Fang both international exchange students from China take in the eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Woody Anderson and Sarah Jordan view the eclipse beaming down on the ground. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Perry Bush from Los Angeles takes in the eclipse.(Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Light filtering through a tree shows the eclipse in Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Teresa kalassen attended the viewing party. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. International exchange student from China Sydney Sun views the eclipse in from of a mural of the Manhattan Beach Pier. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Cassie and Marissa look to the sky with glasses provided by the Physics and Astronomy Department of CSULB to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Manhattan Beach Library was handing out solar eclipse glasses (while supplies lasted), and hosted a family-friendly viewing event of the solar eclipse. Katie Kuznik and her dog Mila attended the event. (Photo by Contributing Photographer Chuck Bennett)
Carboard with pinholes provided by the Physics and Astronomy Departments of CSULB allowed people to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Cathryn McCormick uses a telescope provided by the Physics and Astronomy Department of CSULB to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
People gathered glasses and information from the Physics and Astronomy Department of CSULB to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
People look to the sky with glasses provided by the Physics and Astronomy Department of CSULB to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The Garibay family views the solar eclipse through glasses, from the campus of CSULB in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Jacob Teran uses a uses glasses over his iPhone lens to take photos of the solar eclipse on campus at SCULB in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
People look to the sky with glasses provided by the Physics and Astronomy Department of CSULB to view the solar eclipse on campus in Long Beach on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Leo and Frances Lopez view the solar eclipse in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Cloud cover over the Texas partially blocked the view but the eclipse was still visible in many areas. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A view of the eclipse after 11 am from Simi Valley on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Clouds threaten to block out the total eclipse in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Cloud cover over the Texas partially blocked the view but the eclipse was still visible in many areas. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The sun, partially blocked by the moon, creates crescent-shaped beams of light between the shadows of palm fronds on a sidewalk in Rialto during a solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Eric Vilchis, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The sun, partially blocked by the moon, projects crescent-shaped beams of light through the leaves on a tree in Rialto during a solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Eric Vilchis, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The sun, partially blocked by the moon, projects crescent-shaped beams of light through pin holes in a piece of paper in Rialto during a solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Photo by Eric Vilchis, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The moon partially covers the sun during a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
The moon partially covers the sun during a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
The sun begins to be obscured be the moon as closed pass overhead in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Cloud cover over the Texas partially blocked the view but the eclipse was still visible in many areas. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The sun begins to be obscured be the moon as closed pass overhead in Austin, Texas on Monday, April 8, 2024. Cloud cover over the Texas partially blocked the view but the eclipse was still visible in many areas. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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The sun and the moon slow danced their way across the clear Southern California sky on Monday, April 8, for more than two hours performing a stunning astronomical show, complete with the requisite mood lighting and graceful movement.
From Orange County to the Inland Empire to L.A., the stars of this show didn’t go full-on ‘total’ tango, like they did across much of the United States. But for the thousands who gathered outdoors at local universities, schools, libraries, neighborhoods and parks in the region, the Great American Solar Eclipse, more of a foxtrot, was no less a show to behold.
A moment of a lifetime.
The sun and the moon were right on time, about 10:06 a.m. as they began their galactic show. The eclipse in the Southern California sky peaked around 11:12 a.m. and concluded at 12:22 p.m., at which point the moon and the sun took a bow and went back to being their normal selves.
• See photos: Total solar eclipse sweeps across North America
By then their delicate dance had darkened much of North America and left millions in awe. The eclipse’s “path of totality,” the band where the sun is completely blocked from view, cut diagonally across the continent, delighting U.S. viewers from Texas to Maine. All told, the totality passed over 13 U.S. states, and at least a partial eclipse will be visible from all 50, within eyeshot of 99% of the U.S. population.
Millions put on their special glasses, or looked through homemade pinhole cameras as things went dark across much of the U.S., and a little bit darker in Southern California, where we saw a sun nearly 50% covered by the moon.
In Southern California, that might not have been enough for some folks to notice anything at all. But the event was not lost on thousands of gazers, united by the sun-moon dance in the sky.
“It just felt like something you should witness at least once in your life,” said Madeleine Lees, a high school senior and a leader of Pasadena High School’s Astronomy Club, which gathered under the open sky at the district’s Center for Independent Study to experience the celestial phenomenon firsthand.
• Also see: Solar Eclipse 2024: What the total eclipse looked like across North America
Lees was busy explaining the phenomenon to younger students. Some children likened the eclipse to Pac-Man, while others saw it as resembling an orange moon.
“I was asking if they had questions, and one of them was like, ‘why is this happening,’ and I was trying to explain the orbits,” she said. “Some of them were just happy to be outside.”
At the center, there were activity tables for elementary students featuring eclipse-related activities, such as moon phases with Oreo cookies and drawing the sun and the moon on black pieces of papers, said Scott Phelps, a physics mentor/teacher.
The air was filled with themed music, including songs like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Dark Side of the Moon.”
Dilan Diaz, a geography major at Cal State Long Beach, was on his way to the library to start studying until he stumbled upon the large crowd.
He saw his friend Josiah Diaz, a fourth year communications and theory major, and decided to join them for an stress-relieving breather before going to the library.
“There was just a crowd of people (that were) smiling, and that just attracts more people to jump and be giddy,” Dilan Diaz said.
• Solar Eclipse 2024: What Southern California should know as things go dark(er)
That unity was not lost on Joel Zinn, assistant professor at Cal State Long Beach’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, who hosted a viewing party on the campus’s upper quad.
“This is a really great opportunity for me as a scientist to engage with the public,” Zinn said, as he instructed everyone what to see, what to look out for while warning people not to burn their corneas by looking at the sun directly without eclipse glasses.
The glasses were a ubiquitous sight at Caltech, in Pasadena, where hundreds of people, ranging from families to science enthusiasts, gathered at the institution’s athletic field outside the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics Monday morning.
Many came prepared with solar viewing glasses, comfortable blankets, and umbrellas, eagerly awaiting the celestial spectacle.
At precisely 11:13 am, the moment of maximum eclipse, a surge of excitement swept through the crowd assembled at Caltech as skywatchers cheered and applauded beneath the partially obscured sun.A
Organizers said they were expecting 400 people, but many more came.
For many, it was a chance to look back.
Arwen Bobyk, a filmmaker from Pasadena, brought Fawn, her six-year-old chihuahua to the Caltech viewing event.
Bobyk remembered being a child living in British Columbia, Canada, when there was a full solar eclipse.
“It’s funny because it’s one of the really strong memories of my childhood, was going outside of school in the playground and using the glasses and seeing the eclipse,” she said. “So I hadn’t thought of it for a long time, but I was thinking about that.”
In the Inland Empire, a couple hours into their school day, elementary students across Fontana got hands-on lessons in solar patterns as the eclipse began shortly after 10 a.m.
Fontana Unified provided solar eclipse viewing kits to its 30 elementary schools, including Shadow Hills Elementary, where students gathered outside their classrooms Monday.
Astronomers often deem a full solar eclipse an epic “coincidence,” a rare alignment of celestial bodies.
For this one, it is estimated that 31.6 million people in the U.S. lived in the totality’s path, and many others traveled for the chance to see day become night for four and a half minutes.
And that they did.
In some parts of the country, where the eclipse was total, the experience was surreal, lowering temperatures, drawing thousands for four minutes in darkness as the moon completely blocked out the sun, save the outline of its stunning corona.
In New Hampshire, Holly Randall said experiencing the eclipse had been beyond her expectations.
“I didn’t expect to cry when I saw it,” she said, as tears ran down her face.
It had made her think about fundamental aspects of the universe.
“The power of the sun, and life,” she said. “And us, humankind, here on this planet, and how grateful we can be to have this energy source.”
There were tears. There were cheers.
This particular eclipse was unique because the sun was more active than during the last one, in 2017. Plus, it was longer, offering a chance to view the corona and other features, such as solar flares, sun spots and prominences.
Folks, a total solar eclipse won’t happen again in North America until LeBron James is pushing 60 years old (he’ll likely still be playing ball). And if all goes well, we will have sent our first people to Mars.
That’s why even a look at even a partial eclipse was pretty cool for many youngsters.
“We get to learn more about the eclipse, and it was really cool to see it, because I don’t think the next one is going to happen for another 20 years,” said Margaret Matthews, an astronomy club member and a senior at Pasadena High School.
Usually, the sun is a bit player in our day – behind the scenes, so to speak, shining the light, but never with the “light” shined on it. Monday was different, Zinn said last week as he geared up for the eclipse.
On Monday, the sun was the star of the show, he said.
City Editors Ryan Carter and Jessica Keating contributed to this article.
