BY MOLLY STONE AND CIAN HAMMELL-KELLEHER
Stonehill College’s MacPhaidin Library was preparing to shine a light on the otherwise dark solar eclipse for students.
An email was sent this morning to all Stonehill students saying that MacPhaidin Library was going to be supplying a limited number of solar-viewing glasses for the eclipse.
The Space Science Institute (SSI) was awarded a grant from the Gordan and Betty Moore Foundation to provide 5 million solar viewing glasses to libraries across the United States. MacPhaidan library was gifted 500 glasses from the SSI and 250 glasses from physics professor, Francesca Fornasini.
“We had 750 solar eclipse glasses to give out, all 750 have been picked up,” MacPhaidin Library Assistant Director Uma Hiremath, said.
These glasses didn’t fly off the shelf for the library, however.
“Up until last week,” Hiremath said. “We were handing them out in groups of 20.”
But in the days before the eclipse, the glasses became a hot commodity and those who were able to get a pair have a chance to view the rare celestial event.
“It’s something that doesn’t happen very often,” said Bella Melo, a student.
Melo plans to view the eclipse with two of her friends, Stella Henderson, and Ellie Mitchell, by sharing a pair of glasses between the three.
“It’s cool,” Henderson said. “You don’t really get to see stuff like this.”
The MacPhaidin Library will have a live stream of the event for those students who weren’t fortunate enough to get their hands on the protective glasses.
“This is the kind of thing that should be watched in a group,” Hiremath said. “And the library is a space for students of all different majors to come together. That’s important for a rare event like this.”