BY ERICH MESLIN AND CHLOE TELLER
The solar eclipse captivated the Stonehill community as people prepared for the rare spectacle. On April 8 at about 3:30 p.m., a total solar eclipse will occur when the moon completely blocks out the sun.
A total solar eclipse visible in the United States is a rare phenomenon.
The last total solar eclipse occurred in 2021 but was only visible in Antartica for one minute and 52 seconds.
The total solar eclipse on April 8 was expected to last two and a half hours.
For this unique occurrence, the Stonehill library was holding a livestream event open to all students to watch.
Uma Hiremath, assistant director for public services at the MacPhaidin Library, said she was excited for the event.
“The library is a great place to watch the eclipse because everyone comes together. The library is not siloed. Something of this nature that affects each one of us on a global level, this is just the perfect place to have offered this,” said Hiremath.
The MacPhaidin Library applied for and received a grant from the Space Science Institute for over 750 solar viewing glasses.
“We have been giving these glasses out since last October, but they were running out dramatically in the past week,” she said.
Seamus Farrelly, lead custodian of Stonehill College, was ready for another total eclipse 49 years later from when he saw his first.
“It was about the same time of day, 3:20 p.m., and we wore welding goggles,” Farrelly said.
“The philosophy of all this is how quickly time goes by, I don’t know if I'll be alive for the next one,” he said.
Senior Cloe Dilworth was ready and excited for this event.
“Sadly, I’ll be in class during the time period of the eclipse, but if my professor lets us leave to watch it, I’ll be excited,” Dilworth said.
Along with Dilworth, sophomore football player Griffin Hart feels that he will find his place on the football field to watch the eclipse.
“I feel like the football field will be the perfect place to watch this, a wide-open space which won’t get too crowded,” Hart said.
Francesca Maria Fornasini, assistant professor of Physics, took one of her classes to Vermont for the day to have a better view of the total eclipse.