Eclipse: Scarsdale Style

It's come and gone – the 2017 eclipse of the sun that reached its peak in Scarsdale at 2:44 pm on Monday August 21. The event, which last occurred in 1979, stopped everyone in town in their tracks, as they put their eclipse glasses on to watch the moon pass in front of the sun – leaving just a crescent of the sun to view. Here in New York, we were able to view about 75% coverage of the sun. As the moon passed over the sun it created a dark shadow over town.

Earlier in the day, the Scarsdale Library promised to distribute 140 pairs of eclipse glasses and those were gone quickly when over 300 library cardholders lined up to collect their own pair. They were gone quickly – and unfortunately some walked away without a pair of their own. But since one pair was given to each family, everyone could share the lenses and observe the eclipse.

Some traveled to interesting venues to view the eclipse. Andrea Seiden and Peggy DaSilva went to the roof of the Museum of Natural History where an area of devices were available to use to look at the sun. 

Brothers Adam and Benjamin Longman, who have been interested in astronomy for years, decided that the eclipse was the ideal reason for a road trip.  First they drove to Washington D.C. where Adam is a third year student at George Washingon Law School and spent the night. The next day, they were originally headed for Charleston when they heard that bad weather might prevent a good view.  Instead they headed to Clemson University in South Carolina where they were able to see the total eclipse. Adam said he looked up and saw "a black disc covering the sun" and the shadow turned the bright afternoon into "twilight."

Liam Haller also took a long road trip, driving 29 hours from Scarsdale to Alcoa, Tennessee where he watched the eclipse in Springbrook Park. Along the way he picked up friends at the University of Virginia.

Commenting on the phenomena, Michelle Lichtenberg said, "What I loved about the eclipse was the opportunity it gave us as a nation to unite and examine this solar event together.  After a bleak week of news, this was a welcome chance to rise above our differences and appreciate mother nature from coast to coast."

What did you think of the eclipse? Did it live up to all the media hype? Send your comments and photos to [email protected] and we'll include them here!