A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

By Flora Tang

June 25, 2024

On April 8th, a total solar eclipse occurred across North America. People throughout the country paused their day to look up and witness this rare event. 

On Long Island, people were able to see 88% of the solar eclipse (a partial eclipse) between 2:12 pm to 4:37 pm. At JMS, some students even stayed after school to watch this event. Students wore eclipse glasses, sat on the grass beside the school, and watched as the sky turned dark in the middle of the day.

A solar eclipse happens when the sun, moon, and earth all align. The moon covers the sun so viewers are not able to fully see the sun as they would on a typical day. The outer frame of the sun however, is still visible, because the moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun. Although the distance from the moon to the earth is shorter than the distance from the sun to the earth, it still cannot cover the sun completely. 

A total solar eclipse is a special event because it is extremely rare to be able to witness one. Even having a partial eclipse pass through one’s hometown is a once-in-a-lifetime event. According to earth science teacher Ms. Mauriello, “In the same location, it could be as long as 400 years before a place can see a total solar eclipse again. Solar eclipses happen all over the world, we just can't always see them from where we are located.”

On that day after school, Ms. Mauriello, Mr. Lucher, and Ms. Vicare hosted an eclipse viewing event for JMS students. Students had the opportunity to spend time outside looking at the sun while wearing the proper eyewear. This was extremely important to protect students’ eyes when viewing the eclipse. Ms. Mauriello explained, “Whenever you look at the sun, you should always wear protective glasses. During a solar eclipse, we look at the sun for a prolonged period of time, so you must wear protective glasses to avoid damaging your eyes.”

When a total solar eclipse happens, the sky turns dark. Ms Mauriello says, “We only saw about 88 to 89% of the sun that was covered in Long Island. But if we were in Buffalo, New York, they have 100%, and so if you are in that path of totality, the sky gets dark and you can see all the stars behind the sun. But we couldn’t see that because we didn’t have full totality; we only have partial. When we get 100% of it, we will get really dark and then you can see the stars. It will look like night for a couple of minutes.”