By Rachel Lea
Correspondent
A solar eclipse passed over New Jersey on April 8, casting the campus into an early dusk for several minutes. While many colleges chose to close down to keep students safe, the Physics Club decided to celebrate the event by hosting a watch party at 2 p.m. outside the Brower Student Center.
“I was excited that there would be a chance to see the eclipse in the first place,” said Kayla Wason, president of the Physics Club and a junior physics and secondary education major. “To be able to watch [it] and share that with the rest of campus was really exciting.”
According to NASA, a solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks the Earth’s view of the sun. The location of where the eclipse is viewed determines its totality, or how much the sun is blocked.
In the case of this eclipse, New Jersey was able to experience about 90% totality. Another solar eclipse will not be visible from the United States until 2044, while New Jersey itself will not experience an eclipse with this much coverage for another 200-300 years, according to Wason.
“The eclipse is such a rarity,” said Wason. “I was honored to see it.”
The Physics Club wanted to share the resources of the physics department to help other students enjoy the eclipse. They passed out solar glasses and set up a telescope and two “sunspot” viewers so students could get a closer look at the sun.
“We have so many awesome resources here at the [College] physics department,” said Wason. “It kind of felt like our obligation and responsibility to be able to share this with the rest of campus…this is our way of giving back.”
According to an email sent by the Emergency Preparedness Office, looking directly at the sun can cause permanent damage to the eyes. The Physics Club made sure that everyone remained safe by helping students pass the solar glasses around. The telescope also had a solar filter attached to further protect the eyes of the students.
“It was really important for us to remind our patrons throughout [the party] to not look directly at the sun, even when the clouds are over it,” said Wason. “It is still the sun with UV shining right at you.”
The Physics Club expected most students to look through the telescope and solar glasses on their way to class. Yet, Wason said that as soon as they finished setting up, a crowd of students gathered around to witness the event to the point that the solar glasses needed to be shared among a group.
“We really didn’t know how informed the school would be about the eclipse,” said Wason. “So we didn’t think there would be much traction to our table, but it was really special to see all of campus come out for the chance to view this astronomical phenomenon with us!”
In fact, students like David Zara, a freshman communications major, knew about the eclipse for about a month and were excited to see it occur.
“Solar eclipses are something that I have always been interested in,” said Zara. “And I love to have the opportunity to go watch them, and I feel like that is something everyone should see at least once in their lives.”
Originally, Zara was not aware of the watch party and had planned to watch the eclipse in a separate area. Once he saw the Physics Club and their astronomical devices, however, he decided that the student center was the perfect spot. When asked about the experience, he described it as a surreal moment.
“Everybody was all there for the sole purpose of watching the eclipse,” said Zara. “And as it was getting closer to its peak, you could tell that the energy of the crowd was all there…it was great.”
Wason hopes that hosting this event strengthens the campus community.
“It was not really about, ‘Oh, let’s do something so that the Physics Club is the Physics Club,’” said Wason. “It was more like, ‘This is something we all love; let’s share it with the campus’.”
As for Zara, his only regret is not traveling with his friends to Vermont, which experienced 100% totality.
“I had a class [that day]...and it was a six-hour drive,” said Zara. “[But the eclipse] was definitely still worth seeing, and I had an amazing time.”
