Wildcats Witness Solar Eclipse
Just before 1 p.m. in the afternoon on Monday, Aug. 21, the moon began to slowly cover the sun. Inside the schools, the anticipation was building, as students eagerly awaited the chance to witness the spectacle known as a solar eclipse.
At the elementary schools in Pierceton and South Whitley, students were guided through the simple process for viewing the eclipse:
- Never look directly at the sun without your glasses
- Look down at the ground while putting on the solar eclipse glasses
- While wearing the eclipse glasses, look safely at the eclipse
- Take breaks from looking at the eclipse to rest your eyes
Senior Austin Nettouer, who served as Vice President of Whitko’s FCCLA last year, shared that “You can really damage your vision very easily with just your eyes, but luckily our library donated a lot of glasses that our students can use when we go outside to witness the solar eclipse.” Thanks to the local South Whitley Public Library, students each received their own ISO certified viewing glasses.
At Whitko High School and Whitko Middle School, the students viewed the phenomenon in shifts, as the event continued to occur for approximately 4 hours. Meanwhile, at both elementary schools, the event was broadcast on Facebook Live to allow parents a chance to get in on the fun!
What would it be like to see an eclipse? Students each had their own ideas, as many had never seen one before. WHS Junior, Sam Rickerd, believed that the earth might get cooler in the shadow of the moon while WMS student Chase Bays surmised that without today’s technology to assure her the event was safe, she would have been “freaked out!”
Interestingly, a solar eclipse is quite a regular occurrence; however, the majority of eclipses happen over the 70 percent of the earth that is covered in water. As a result, most of these events are never witnessed. Having an eclipse travel completely across the United States hasn’t happened for 99 years, but on Monday, sky gazers in the United States were the only ones on the globe who could enjoy the view! Whitko students were able to witness the eclipse as it peaked at approximately 90 percent of the sun being covered by the moon. Anyone wishing to witness totality, the moment when the sun is completely covered by the moon, would have needed to travel a few hours further to the south. During totality, viewers see stars and planets that are normally only seen at night, and are even able to witness certain constellations that are rarely visabile due to it naturally being daytime!
The next solar eclipse in 2024 is predicted to cross the U.S. from Texas to the East Coast and will cross Indiana, by which time Whitko’s 5th graders will now be old enough to graduate.