The University of Wyoming planetarium welcomed the community to join them in Prexy’s Pasture to witness the Annual Solar Eclipse, on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Kaycee Conder, Jakcie Zalcman, and Caleb Eastlund, three students who were handing out eclipse glasses on behalf of the planetarium, clarified a few things about the eclipse.
When asked how often these events happen, Eastlund explained that, “These kinds of eclipse events happen all the time.”
However, these eclipse events are not always visible from the United States.
Eastlund continued to explain how the events are tracked, so when the opportunity arises to view the eclipses from the U.S., people can be prepared to be there.
“It’s all about the orbits, the Moon and the Earth relative to the Sun. We study the orbits and we pay attention to where the moon is in relation to the sun from our perspective,” according to Eastlund.
Conder added, “One of the big differences between [an annular eclipse] and a total solar eclipse, as far as the orbits, is that at some points, the moon is closer to the earth. Right now the moon doesn’t appear big enough in the sky to be a total solar eclipse and completely block out all the light from the sun.”
The Moon is currently the farthest away from the Earth in its rotation, and therefore appears to be generally smaller than during other times of the year.
There was a great turnout at Prexy’s Pasture, including a few groups that brought telescopes and special viewing tools such as sunspotters, which allow viewers to see a projection of the Sun’s image without looking directly at it.
The next eclipse event for Wyomingites will take place in April 2024, this time with a total solar eclipse similar to the eclipse event in August 2017.
