Where To See The Solar Eclipse In San Diego

The top story , where were you during the great American eclipse? The midday edition crew was on the sidewalk at San Diego State University battling over eclipse glasses. David Wagner mingled with the crowd at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park to watch the solar eclipse. He joins us now with an update. How many people went out to the Fleet Science Center to watch the eclipse? What kind of events did they have going on. There are close to 3000 people they said they would show up and Shernoff, long before the eclipse started, I was the around Adak 30 and there were hundreds of people they are. As we got closer to the peak of the eclipse, people were spilling out onto the lawn, with a really good turnout at the fleet today. Inside, the fleet was showing the NASA live stream but a lot of people were interested in what they could see right outside of the fleet. There was a contingent of local astronomy bus that set up telescopes and people could look at the sun safely. I talked with one of them, William Oliver. He was with the astronomy Association. Here is how he was feeling. This was amazing to see this many people. I know all of them were out here for the science. It is absolutely amazing to see that people are taking an interest in an event that will not happen again for a long time in the United States. The clouds were thick early in the morning but luckily, they cleared up around 9:00 as things started going and people ended up with a good view. Were there kids ? Yes. It was a family-friendly kind of scene. It was also people of all ages. I mean, it was a family-friendly thing but it was a positive kind of atmosphere. I was out there and a dad let me look through his glasses for a moment because the fleet did not get a shipment of the glasses that they were expecting to get. Not everyone had a pair of eclipse glasses. You know, somebody will let me look through it. There was a feeling of, you know, kids, parents, older people, younger people, coming together and sharing what they had. There was a feeling of camaraderie. Remind us how much of the great American eclipse we got to see. We saw 60% of the sun being covered by the moon in San Diego. If you were able to view it safely through a pair of glasses or filtered telescope, you got to see a dramatic crescent shape. Yes. We are pretty far from the path of totality where people got to see the moon completely cover the sun. That happened in central Oregon and Wyoming. It will move Southeast and it ends in South Carolina. Last week, you talk to a few people who were traveling from San Diego to see the path of totality and to view the complete total eclipse. Who are they ? One of those is an astronomy instructor to be a part of this project. Another was the president of the astronomy Association. He sent a dozen members of his organization to Oregon. For some locals, it was important to be there for the full experience It occurred to me as a non scientific person, we have space telescopes looking at the sun. What do scientists hope to learn? Why is this so special? The fleet had an astronomer on hand at the event. Lisa Wells is a college professor. She was there to answer public and get people excited. It was a public engagement thing. She did say the event also hold interest for professional astronomers also. Lisa well -- let's hear what she has to say. We can see the sun Corunna when the moon helps us out by blocking the brightest part of the sun. We do not really understand the interest the of the corona. It is good to look at it. And instructor I talked about who was traveling to Central Oregon, he was interested in the same thing. He is part of the effort with telescopes across the country to get unique images of the inner Corunna so they can piece them together. Even with the equipment that we have to observe the sun, it takes an eclipse and perhaps a total eclipse to learn these things about the sun that we do not know? There are unique moments when the scientists get a unique look at the sun. It is unique to have this traversing the whole continental U.S. When does it happen again? If we missed it today, when do we get to see the next one ? The next one is October 2023. It will be a while. That will be a partial eclipse in San Diego. Luckily, there is another partial solar eclipse a few months later in 2024. Okay. Two in a row. We have been speaking with David Wagner. Thank you. As you heard, some traveled out of state to witness the total solar eclipse. That report is coming up later in the show.