The University of Wyoming Harry C. Vaughan Planetarium held a solar eclipse observation event on Prexy’s Pasture, where dozens of students and members of the community looked at the sun through eclipse glasses that the planetarium provided.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, and even though Wyoming wasn’t in the direct path of this solar eclipse, dozens of students, faculty employees and members of the community attended the event.
Devon Borthwick, presenter and show operator at the planetarium said, “We are here giving out free Eclipse classes and showing people the eclipse through our Sun spotter and we have a pinhole camera too that we’re going to be using once it gets a little bit more intensified.”
Rachael Laing, a library specialist at Coe Library said, “Me and my coworkers heard about this event online and since this is the last eclipse for a while we decided to at least witness what we can.”
These events are rare and only seen for a short period of time in specific areas, and the next solar eclipse won’t be seen in America until Aug. 23, 2044. Laramie witnessed a 60% coverage, where the moon covered a little over half of the sun, and was visible from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 8, 2024.
“Well, this is the first eclipse here since 2017,” said Borthwick. “It’s just a great time for everybody to come together and learn about space and how it affects us, and this is gonna be one of the last times for I believe 20 years that we’ll have one in North America. So it’s really exciting.”
“This eclipse is special for a lot of us, especially for me and some of my friends where this might be the last we’ll see in our lives. So I’m just trying to make the most of it,” Lucia Reenie, a member of the community said.
