Eyes on the sky for solar eclipse viewing in DeKalb County

DeKALB – People across DeKalb County stopped what they were doing for a few minutes Monday afternoon, went outside, donned a pair of special glasses and looked up at the sky, captivated by the same thing: a solar eclipse not expected to be visible again until 2045.

“It looks awesome,” said Mollie Schmoll, a North Elementary School kindergarten teacher in Sycamore, shortly before she took her students outside to view the solar eclipse on Monday. “I think the kids are going to really think it’s really cool.”

DeKalb County’s youngest students weren’t the only pupils observing and learning about the rare event. A solar eclipse watch party hosted by the Northern Illinois University Observatory on campus quad Monday was attended by hundreds of people.

Marc Crowell, a 29-year-old NIU graduate student studying physics, said he was an undergraduate student at NIU in August 2017 – the last time the area experienced a solar eclipse. He was still surprised by Monday’s turnout, however.

“I’m happy to see so many people show up. I’m also happy there isn’t a cloud in the sky,” Crowell said. “It’s a nice day, a perfect day for a solar eclipse viewing.”

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Benjamin Osborn, a Northern Illinois University senior from Rockford, and Emily Claussen, a senior, from McHenry, get comfortable to watch the eclipse progress Monday, April 8, 2024, during the NIU Solar Eclipse Viewing Party behind Davis Hall in DeKalb. Attendees were treated to perfect weather to watch the rare celestial event. (Mark Busch)

A solar eclipse – when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking out the light and casting a shadow on what otherwise might be a sunny day – was visible in North America on Monday. As the moon blocked sunlight and the Earth rotated, the moon’s shadow created a path called the totality, according to NASA.

DeKalb County did not experience totality – when the moon completely blocks sunlight from reaching an area during a solar eclipse – but in southern Illinois, Carbondale and Evansville experienced the celestial event between 1:59 and 2:05 p.m. on Monday.

At the same time, viewers in DeKalb County were able to see only a small sliver of the sun peak around the moon in what is known as a partial eclipse.

Eclipse glasses, which are specifically crafted to allow users to watch the solar eclipse without damaging their eyesight, were necessary to directly observe the event.

Ashley Maki, 32, got a pair of eclipse glasses by attending the Total Eclipse of the Park event held at the Sycamore Community Park District Community Center, 480 Airport Road, hosted Monday by the Sycamore Public Library and Sycamore Park District.

“Everybody keeps talking about the glasses and stuff, so I figured I’ve either got to find myself a pair of glasses or I’ve got to find somewhere where I can see the event happen,” Maki said.

Other eclipse-viewing methods also were available to the public at the NIU Observatory watch party. Crowell operated a solar projector, which allowed observers the chance to watch the moon pass in front of the sun by looking at light projected on to a cloth.

“I’ve had a pretty good view. I’ve been here pretty much the whole time doing this, and I have watched the whole thing,” Crowell said. “And so, it’s kind of cool to get an opportunity to see from start to finish what goes on.”

Samantha Sundquist, adult services manager for Sycamore Public Library, was the lead organizer behind the Total Eclipse of the Park event.

“I just really wanted to bring the community together in a safe way, and have people that maybe would never would be able to experience this, haven’t done it before, or won’t be able to do it again, to do it as a part of the library,” Sundquist said.

Dozens attended the event in Sycamore, but even more could be seen looking skyward throughout DeKalb County. About 2 p.m. – when the area was as close to totality as it would get – construction workers in Sycamore stopped to pass around a pair of eclipse glasses, residents left their homes and students in DeKalb and Sycamore were brought outside for the real-time science lesson.

Students at all Sycamore Community School District 427 elementary schools, and the district’s middle school, gathered outside for the occasion, district officials said.

To prepare for the eclipse, Schmoll said she’s read books and watched videos explaining solar eclipse basics with her kindergarten class. Her students wore solar eclipse glasses that had been fashioned into paper plate masks they had designed and colored.

Thomas Franks, principal of North Elementary School, said the lessons taught on the solar eclipse varied by grade level. He said many elementary school students don’t remember or weren’t around during the 2017 solar eclipse.

“It’s very exciting, everybody’s super pumped to see something that’s very unique, or one of a kind. Obviously, what was it seven-ish years ago we all got to see it before, but for these elementary kids, they haven’t,” Franks said.