Syracuse, N.Y. — On Monday morning , a crowd began gathering on the lawn of the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology , hoping to witness a total solar eclipse.
One attendee, Christopher Ducey of Solvay, New York, set up a Cave Astrola telescope from the 1970s on the lawn. The vintage telescope is heavy and bulky by modern standards, Ducey said. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Hays was even hopeful that the sky might clear up enough to reveal planets, such as Jupiter, near the moon during the sudden darkness of totality."It's the most pretty part of it," said Theo, 5, from New York City, showing off the picture he'd drawn of a dark-blue moon rimmed by a pale-yellow corona .
As museum workers announced the start of the partial phase of the eclipse, the sky remained cloudy, with the sun drifting in and out of view. Often, nothing at all was visible through the eclipse glasses. But every few minutes, rays of sunlight shone through the clouds and cheers from onlookers marked each good look at the eclipse.
After a minute and a half, a single bead of bright, golden light began to emerge from the clouds. The phenomenon, called Baily's beads, happens when sunlight peeks through valleys on the moon's surface. There were more cheers during the sun's reemergence, and the partial views immediately after were some of the clearest of the day.