On Apr 8, 2024, many US states experienced a total solar eclipse. The path of totality crossed through thirteen states, starting from Texas and following a northeast path reaching Maine. The eclipse prompted Jones students to experience this rare scientific phenomenon.
“I visited Montreal. It wasn’t [specifically for the eclipse], it was kind of like a joint thing. I went in to tour McGill, which is the school that I might go to,” said Sofie Richter ‘24.
Students mentioned how the eclipse encouraged a sense of community amongst loved ones and strangers during their viewing experience.
“My family was going and we thought it would be a nice bonding experience. And you know, it’s something you don’t get to see very often. So I just thought it would be worth it to go,” said Nico Carlson ‘25 who visited Indiana to view the total solar eclipse.
People were fascinated by the stark changes in their environment caused by the eclipse. Just for a couple minutes, people’s surroundings were completely different. Students noted a change in animal behavior especially. Animals take behavioral cues from nature and the darkening sky and change in temperature brought on by the eclipse causes animals to shift into their night time behavior.
“There was another rental house, down the road a bit. We could hear them screaming when totality hit, because they were so excited about it,” sad Tess Lacy ‘26, “But during the eclipse, you could definitely hear a lot of noise from the animals. And like fireworks going off way off in the distance and stuff.”
Scientific phenomena like this have the power to bring people together. People remember such an event and thus, who they are with and where they are.
“And it felt like there were thousands of people, they’re all looking up. As we got closer and closer to the Eclipse, we would just be applauding. There’d be waves of cheer and all this excitement. And it was so cool to see humanity come together and really enjoy nature,” said Richter.
The 2017 eclipse was the first solar eclipse that Gen Z experienced and an event that many remember. Gen Z is very lucky to live through not one, but 2 solar eclipses in the continental US. Before 2017, we had not seen a total solar eclipse since 1979. This makes seeing the eclipse all the more enthralling.
“I saw it in 2017. Like a park by my house, but that was a 95% Eclipse or whatever. It wasn’t like a total one. So seeing a total one was like I had no idea how cool it would be. That totally exceeded my expectations,” said Richter.
The total solar eclipse is an experience that most people do not get the privilege of seeing in their lifetime, but those who did get to see totality recognize how special this event really is.
“I think it’s important to go and see these types of things because we just live most of our days seeing and expecting the world to operate like it usually does. But every so often, something really cool happens. And I think that is important to see,” said Carlson.
The next solar eclipse that will be visible in America will occur on August 23, 2044, and viewers of this recent eclipse encourage everyone to see it.
“It’s so amazing. And it’s like jaw dropping. It gets cold like you get chilly and like it’s so it’s so amazing. And then like you it is really one of those things where you just have to go and see it like you cannot experience it by looking at the pictures or anything,” said Lacy.
