A total eclipse of the sun was visible across much of the U.S. on Monday, April 8. The moon aligned with the sun, creating a shadow across the Earth. Here in New York, we saw a partial solar eclipse with the moon covering roughly 90 percent of the sun.
Although such solar eclipses occur at least twice each year, due to the size of the planet, the effect is visible only from certain areas, which, more often that not, are out in the middle of the ocean. That’s why April’s celestial event got so much attention: the so-called “path of totality” will swept across the heart of the United States, from southeast Texas to northeast Maine.
By 2 p.m., the parking lot at the Custer Institute in Southold was overflowing with cars, as more than 100 skywatchers equipped with beach chairs and special glasses set up on the lawn to watch the afternoon’s solar eclipse.
No place on the North Fork – or anywhere on eastern Long Island, for that matter – is better suited than Custer for experiencing the rare celestial event. The observatory, which was built in the 1930s for the purpose of studying the heavens, had a half dozen specially filtered telescopes set up on the lawn for visitors to gaze through. Members of the institute went out of their way to make sure everyone who came had a quality view.
Inside one of the buildings, two large telescopes tracked the sun as it transited the sky from east to west, one of which projected an image onto a television screen. Inside the institute’s main building, a live NASA feed followed the progress of the eclipse across the “path of totality,” where the moon completely blocked the sunlight.
J.K. Hodge played the piano as visitors watched the NASA feed, which began in Mexico and showed the eclipse unfolding all the way across the continent to northern Maine. Members of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club set up equipment and began receiving messages from all over Europe.
When 3:27 p.m. arrived — the sky dark as if it were closer to 8 p.m., the air even cooler — shouts and applause rippled through the large crowd. It was as if the team they were rooting for just scored the winning touchdown.
This celestial event will not occur again in our area for another 20 years, in 2044.
Original reporting by Steve Wick