EUGENE, Ore. — Excitement was steadily building in southeast Oregon as the annular solar eclipse got underway Saturday morning. Despite an unfavorable weather forecast Saturday morning, many people hoping catch a glimpse of the astronomical event gathered for a watch party on the front lawn of the Eugene Science Center — and they didn't come away disappointed.
Although it was only visible for a short time, the clouds did part enough to allow for a good look at the eclipse, drawing cheers from the crowd.
"I love these kinds of things. I went to the eclipse back in 2017, we drove down to Salem for that," said Robert Blackstead, who lives in Bellingham, Washington. "I'm just fascinated with this kind of stuff."
Carl Nelson, the chief scientist at Imagination Station, a science museum in Toledo, Ohio, made the trip to Eugene to see his first annular eclipse, and to prepare for the next one in April 2024.
"Toledo's going to experience the totality in the April 8 eclipse, so we're trying to get people excited about that," he said. "[Today] we had cloud cover coming in, we had brief glimpses of [the eclipse], and then magically right when we hit that point where we were in the ring of fire, the clouds kind of parted, and we actually saw it!"
The eclipse began just after 8 a.m. and was visible across much of the western and southwestern U.S., but the real show came when it reached annularity between 9:15 and 9:25 a.m. — that's when the moon passes in front of the sun and creates the appearance of an illuminated ring, or a "ring of fire."
The brief break in the cloud cover was exactly what the science center's staff said they were hoping for when planning the event.
"I hope it is clearer, if not completely clear," Peter Kukla, community engagement director for the science center told KGW on Friday. "But even a little bit of breakage in the clouds should allow us to see the sun coming over the trees."
He said he expected several hundred people to set up on the lawn. Although it's not quite the crowd other parts of Oregon saw back in 2017 for the total solar eclipse, spectators — watching with special eclipse glasses — should still prepare for quite a show if the weather cooperates.
"I'm really excited," said Kayleen Reeve, who traveled to Eugene from Iowa. "I understand why people travel around and follow these eclipses, because it was very cool."
Reeve was able to watch the total eclipse in 2017 back in Iowa. Reeve said she knows it will look a bit different this time around, but to her it's well worth the trip.
"My stepdaughter lives up in Portland," she said, "I found out there was an eclipse, and that Eugene was one of the spots, so I arranged my trip so I was here for three days in October."