On April 8, visitors at the UF’s Campus Teaching Observatory were treated to a rare celestial sight: a solar eclipse. This occurs when the Moon passes in between the Sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth. The observatory’s director, Dr. Triana Almeyda, led a group of volunteers from the The Department of Astronomy to set up telescopes with special filters and hand out safe-viewing solar glasses. From Gainesville, only a partial eclipse was seen, peaking at about 70% coverage. The so-called path of totality, or brief 100% coverage, where a perfect alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Earth occurred, stretched from Texas through the midwestern and New England states. Still, this rare celestial event was a huge success, drawing thousands of people to the observatory!
For those looking for other future observing opportunities, we encourage you to stop by the observatory for our weekly Friday public nights at 8:30-10PM, weather permitting.
UF’s Campus Teaching Observatory
UF astronomers in more Florida eclipse news:
