Hundreds gathered at Roanoke’s Center in the Square Monday to witness the solar eclipse.
Kaiser Rupe and Luke Somers are best friends who snagged some special viewing glasses just before Roanoke saw its peak for the eclipse:
“It’s like the sun is the moon, and the moon is like not there”
“It’s pretty sweet right? Has this been what you all have been talking about at school recently?”
“We’ve been talking about it at school today; all the teachers.”
“So, it’s been the talk of the town basically?”
“Yeah, I got a text from my friend this morning at 5:30 saying, ‘Don’t look at the sun.’”
“And one of our friends went to South Carolina to see the whole thing.”
Luke and Kaiser were waiting in line to view the sun through a specially-tuned telescope.
That telescope, along with a few other activities, were provided by the Roanoke Valley Astronomical Society.
Frank Baratta, who organized the event, said its purpose was to bring people together:
“It’s trying to bring something to people that they might not have had an opportunity to see on their own; now everybody can look up, but this becomes an event. And, it really captures kids; it can start kids on a career, something in science because something grabbed them.”
Baratta says Roanoke eclipse fans will have to wait a few more years before another opportunity like this one:
“The next total eclipse is coming in 2024, and it’s following a different path; this one went from Oregon down to South Carolina. The path in 2024 is going to go from Texas up to Maine. It’ll be about as far away from being on the path of totality for that one as we are for this one.”