From weekend astronomers to children with protective eyewear made from paper plates, an estimated 700 visitors crowded Hibernia County Park in Coatesville on Monday afternoon to enjoy the rarest of phenomenons – a total solar eclipse.

The event was sponsored by the Chester County Library System and the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation in partnership with the Chester County Astronomical Society and Timmy Telescope Solar Astronomy. In addition to providing information about eclipses from the GLOBE Observer data collection program, the event included children’s protective wear building kit sessions, sun and moon salutation yoga and telescopes patrolled by NASA volunteers that allowed the curious to have a better view of the unfolding eclipse.

Vehicles started to arrive at the park at about 1 p.m., and within an hour, the designated parking areas were filled with those who began to look for signs that the moon would begin to pass between the Earth and the sun. As the “first contact” was made at 2:12 p.m., the shadow of the moon was seen in the lower right-hand corner of the sun, and within the next few minutes, it was announced that the temperature had dropped from 64 degrees to 63 degrees. 

By 2:34 p.m. – through the occasional clouds that obstructed the view throughout the day – the shadow of the moon began to fully emerge, appearing to take a considerable chunk out of the sun’s right-facing curvature, and by 2:40 p.m., nearly one-quarter of the sun was obstructed, while the temperature continued to dip to 61 degrees. At 3:15 p.m., the sun took on the shape of a very thin letter “C” and soon vanished in a “path of totality” for about four minutes, causing the sky to darken to a soupy gray. By 3:21 p.m., the path of totality began to vanish, and by 3:33 p.m., the sun took on a shape reminiscent of a cheshire cat smile. 

Pennsylvania was one of 15 U.S. states – as well as parts of Mexico and Canada – to have the opportunity to view the total eclipse of the sun. The next total solar eclipse is scheduled to occur on Aug. 26, 2026 and will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and a small area of Portugal, while a partial eclipse will be visible in North America as well as Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The eclipse concluded at 4:30 p.m.

While another solar eclipse is scheduled to appear in the U.S. on Aug. 30, 2044, Pennsylvanians will not likely be able to get a good view of it, as totality will only be visible from North Dakota and Montana, according to NASA.

While another eclipse is set to travel from coast to coast across the U.S. on Aug. 12, 2045, it will likely be seen across California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. 

The last time a total solar eclipse swept over Chester County was on Aug. 21, 2017, but the path of totality of the April 8 eclipse was recorded to be much wider, as the moon was farther away from the Earth at the time of the 2017 event.

To learn more about eclipses, visit www.nasa.gov. To learn more about the Chester County Astronomical Society and a listing of its upcoming events, visit www.ccas.us.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].