On April 8th, a rare natural phenomenon occurred in the sky. If you looked up at the Sun on that afternoon, you would have been a witness to the total solar eclipse. Temple University was lucky enough to take in the eclipse on campus, where the College of Science and Technology hosted a viewing party at Beury Beach.
Temple’s Physics department was generous enough to lend the audience their multiple solar viewing telescopes and protective eyewear, so everyone could view the natural phenomenon with more ease. These protective glasses were very important to the audience of this solar event. Even though the moon covers most of the Sun’s brightness during the eclipse, this does not obscure the effects of the Sun’s energy. The glasses that were given out at the time of the eclipse limited the light wavelengths sent from the Sun’s surface to prevent damage to the inner eye. Although it might seem irritating to wear protective eyewear, the students at Temple University had no trouble doing so since the department ran out of eyewear by three o’clock.
The department also helped the audience have a better understanding of the science behind the eclipse, like what to look for and how it operates. The moon covered up to nine-tenths of the Sun’s surface from Philadelphia’s point of view. However, the students and staff who attended the solar eclipse watch party were left unsatisfied due to the unlucky turnout of the weather. Even though the start of the day was sunny, it started to get cloudy right as the moon was about to cover the sun. This was disappointing for all the viewers at Beury Beach. The only parts of the eclipse’s finale that could be seen were little glimpses in between the breaks in the clouds. Although it was a tough effort to see the natural phenomenon, it did not stop Temple University’s spirit. Every time the Sun peeked out of the clouds, Temple’s students would applaud its efforts in trying its best to give the audience a good show.
Despite the eclipse’s invisibility, The Total Solar Eclipse completely blocked Philadelphia’s view of the Sun. If the clouds decided to behave on the day of the eclipse, the students could have noticed the sky darken and Jupiter and Venus could have been visible. The audience could have also witnessed both Bailey’s Beads and the Diamond Ring effect at the peak of the eclipse. Bailey’s Beads is an occurrence that happens when the last bits of sunlight pass through the moon’s rough surface and the Diamond Ring effect takes place only when the last ray of the Sun is visible. This last bit of the Sun can be seen as a bright light like a diamond ring, which the effect gets its name from. The Diamond Ring effect can be caused by the light passing through the moon’s mountains, valleys, and craters.
This astonishing event won’t happen again in Philadelphia until the year 2078. The solar eclipse of 2024 brought, at certain times, beautiful visuals for all of Philadelphia to see. Although this event was occasionally anti-climactic, it was a reason to bring the Temple community and all of Philadelphia together.