Students across campus spent last week asking the question: what is a solar eclipse?
The community received the opportunity to witness an eclipse firsthand. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, causing a brief moment of darkness due to the blockage of light emitted from the sun. Eclipses rarely occur, sometimes taking up to twenty years for the next one.
Upper schoolers caught a glimpse of the event on April 8. The partial eclipse was visible starting at 2:08 p.m., and slowly built up to the total eclipse at 3:23 p.m., aligning almost perfectly with the end of classes. The entire eclipse finished for southeastern Pennsylvania residents at around 4:35 p.m.
Faculty members, including those in the science department, had some observations on the solar eclipse. Physics teacher Mr. Jamison Maley reflected on the novelty of the phenomenon—specifically its timing.
“It amazes me how we as a community were able to experience ninety percent of the eclipse, but were also within driving distance of the total eclipse. In a couple decades, we are going to have to make our way over to Greenland to have this experience again,” Mr. Maley said. “It really puts humanity into perspective and shows how little we are compared to the things happening around us.”
“My favorite part of the event was not the actual eclipse itself, but it was how everyone was able to gather together and enjoy more time face to face.”
Mr. Benjamin White
Spanish teacher Mr. Benjamin White also felt the eclipse impacted the community.
“My favorite part of the event was not the actual eclipse itself,” Mr. White said, “but it was how everyone was able to gather together and enjoy more time face to face.”
Students were also captured by the experience.
“My favorite part of the whole event was when I was able to see the moon slowly pass over the sun and create a small ring of light around the moon,” Fourth Former Eli Press said. “It was a very surreal experience, but I definitely wish there were less clouds in the sky when the event was happening.”
The eclipse had a positive impact on the students who chose to watch it, but it unfortunately happened to be conflicted with some upsetting weather patterns. Fourth Former Harrison Cross shared a similar sentiment.
“I thought the entirety of the event was cool, but I was a little disappointed with how cloudy it was during the peak of the eclipse. We were promised to see ninety percent of the total eclipse, but the weather only limited us to fifty percent,” Cross said.
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