A partial solar eclipse captured the attention spectators throughout the area on Monday afternoon.
The moon traveled in front of the sun and cast a shadow that briefly dimmed the daylight. At 3:24 p.m., the peak of the eclipse, onlookers experienced an awe-inspiring moment of near-darkness and a noticeable drop in temperature.
Despite some clouds, the eclipse was visible to those with eye protection.
Michael Sklar, the co-owner of New Hope Borough’s Greenhouse and Oldstone restaurants and Greater New Hope Chamber of Commerce president, watched the eclipse from his home in Solebury Township.
“While looking at the eclipse, other than amazed at this natural phenomenon, I was just thinking how awesome this is to experience with friends and family. Nothing is better than nature being able to create the best lifetime lasting memories,” Sklar said.
Bucks County Community College’s campus in Newtown Township served as a gathering spot as students donned eclipse glasses to observe the celestial phenomenon.
A reader from Upper Makefield Township shared a photo they took.
“As an amateur photographer, the eclipse provided me a new opportunity to enjoy all this planet has to offer and to test out my camera in a challenging environment,” they said.
Credit: Submitted
At the Margaret Grundy Memorial Library in Bristol Borough, cheers and scattered applause broke out from young and old wearing eclipse glasses as the moon blocked about 90 percent of the sun.
Montel Robinson and his 8-year-old son, of the City of Burlington, New Jersey, were among the crowd.
“He loves NASA and wanted to see this so much,” Robinson said of his son. “We looked it up and found the Bristol library was doing an eclipse party, so we came today.”
Robinson added that he was impressed with the sight of the eclipse, even if it was partial.
A bit shy, his son, Damian, said he enjoyed the experience.
For the next major eclipse in two decades, Robinson said he would consider traveling with his son to be in the path of totality.
Patti Clements gathered with her three grandkids in Levittown to watch the eclipse.
Alisah and Richard Clements and Dominic Hughes, Clements’ grandkids, enjoyed seeing the eclipse.
“It was so awesome,” Clements said. “In 20 years I think I’ll be to old to see it again, but all 3 kids will be in the right age and hopefully they will remember this 20 years from now.”
While the next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. is not expected until August 22, 2044, with a path of totality over North Dakota and Montana, anticipation is already building for the coast-to-coast total solar eclipse on August 12, 2045.
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