RADFORD, Va. – People of all ages enjoyed a glimpse of the solar eclipse at Radford University on Monday.
Before and after the rare phenomenon, people took part in activities to learn more about the solar eclipse, like decorating cookies to match the phases of the moon and attending shows at the Radford University Planetarium.
The planetarium show on Monday showed in detail how rare it is for the sun, moon and earth to match up to create Monday’s rare event.
Radford University professors said it was exciting to see large crowds of people come out and enjoy a day of science.
“Astronomy is beautiful. It’s why I started studying it. And these kinds of events that kind of bring the heavens back to earth a little so we can see it happening in real-time. It’s just really exciting to see all kinds of people come out for an astronomy event,” said assistant professor, Dr. Sandy Liss.
“It’s really great we have a chance here in Radford and the New River Valley to see up to 87% of our sun blocked off over the course of the next two hours. So it’s very exciting to see people look up and ponder their greater place in the universe,” said professor, Dr. Rhett Herman.
Physics students at Radford, like Bryce Pappas and Eni Szabad took part in research collecting during the eclipse.
“It’s been a great opportunity. The professors here have been amazing and so helpful. They have really helped guide us in our research,” said Pappas.