Holding paper eclipse glasses and zipping up their fall jackets, thousands of people gathered Saturday morning at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science near downtown Dallas to witness a rare celestial phenomenon coloring the sky.
More than 4,000 tickets have been sold in advance of the viewing event, which the museum has been planning for the past three years, said Linda Silver, the museum’s CEO. Tickets included admission to all floors of the museum and a variety of art, science, and engineering learning activities for children.
Silver said the museum distributed thousands of glasses across North Texas ahead of the eclipse, including at Klyde Warren Park on Saturday, to give people a chance to view the eclipse safely. Ta.
“Experiencing a solar eclipse in raw time is a very rare opportunity. It’s a very rare event,” Silver said. “For me, it’s all about attracting people not just to science but to curiosity, which makes them think about the world beyond their everyday lives.”
The Perot organization held a similar total solar eclipse viewing event in 2017, which drew about 5,000 people to downtown Dallas on Monday afternoon.
Silver, who called Saturday’s event a “science festival,” said she hopes the party will spark an interest in science and astronomy among young people so they can carry that enthusiasm into their own lives.
“Even if these kids don’t grow up to be scientists, we can all benefit from a deeper understanding of science,” she says. “I want them to be scientifically literate people.”
Saturday’s partial annular solar eclipse peaked around 11:55 a.m. Starting around 11:20 a.m., museum officials and volunteers invited people outside to watch the moon partially cover the sun, He called on everyone to count down to the maximum solar eclipse.
“[The eclipse] “This is one of the few events where we can actually see what’s happening in space. It’s an opportunity to remind people about space,” said participant Kelvin Amruk, 22. .
Dr. Perot partnered with astronomers from the Carnegie Institution for Science, a California-based research and learning center, to answer people’s questions about the eclipse.
Carnegie Scientist astronomer John Mulchey explained that solar eclipses have had a huge impact on history because they are often dramatic events that focus people’s attention on something in the sky.
“It’s kind of a human experience,” Mulchey said. “We can all experience the universe together in moments that we wouldn’t normally experience.”
Mulchey added that while the event is rare and special, it primarily serves as a “warm-up” for the total solar eclipse on April 8, for which Dallas will be the best viewing location.
“This is a good preview to get people excited for next year and start thinking about April, because it really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said.
Saturday’s event drew people who had been waiting for the celestial event for months. Many said they learned about the eclipse from social media and TikTok videos.
Regina Bussey, of Dallas, said she and her husband came to Perot because they were interested in all things astronomy. In her spare time, Ms. Bussey, her former English professor, uses her telescope at home to look at the stars.
“We are part of the whole world and solar system,” she said of the eclipse. “There are other great things too.”
