Were you in the path of totality for Monday’s eclipse? We had about two and a half minutes of totality and it was very impressive despite light cloud cover. The corona was clear and the sky looked like sunset around the horizon. The temperature dropped 8 degrees F over the course of the eclipse.
A few months ago we had decided to host a solar eclipse party at church, so I came up with some activities that we could do even if the weather was unfavourable. I made an indoor treasure hunt for the kids (putting the clues on the backs of solar system trading cards) and a trivia game with Moon Pies as the prize, and some of my kids made themed word searches to hand out. We had hot chocolate and North Star tea (orange and mint flavoured herbal tea) and several people brought cookies decorated to look like the progression of the eclipse. My kids also made deviled eggs and dried apricots dipped in chocolate.
Thankfully the weather was lovely for spending the afternoon outside and everyone enjoyed spreading out on lawn chairs and picnic blankets at the edge of a field with a thermometer for temperature tracking in the shade of a tree. Although we didn’t experience some of the phenomena that I read about (shadow bands, crescent projections with a colander, extra sharp shadows, red and green colours appearing altered), I’m so glad I got to witness totality.
Ahead of the party I also ordered some eclipse books from the library. These are the two I got in time to read to my kids and bring along in case anyone else wanted to have a look.
Eclipse: How the 1919 Solar Eclipse Proved Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity by Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Peter Willis (Mims House, 2019)
I’m always impressed when authors can explain a complex topic in a way that kids can understand. This playful picture book introduces children to astronomer Stanley Eddington’s experiment to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity by documenting whether or not starlight is bent by the sun’s gravity. Of course a total eclipse was the only time to photograph stars in the middle of the day, so he headed to the African island of Principe in May 1919. This book tells the story of Eddington’s experiment with playful illustrations and sidebars that offer more information. It ends with an original photo of the 1919 total solar eclipse. I’m definitely interested in looking up more books from the “Moments in Science” series! Recommended for ages 7 to 10.
Eclipse Chaser: Science in the Moon’s Shadow by Ilima Loomis, photographs by Amanda Cowan (Clarion Books, 2019)
Jumping forward to the Great American Eclipse of 2017, this much longer book explores the work of Syrian-American scientist Shaddia Habbal and her experiments to understand the sun’s atmosphere. With five chapters, introduction, epilogue, glossary, sources, and index, it is certainly geared toward older children. If your kids are interested in the practical details of the work of contemporary scientists this book is worth checking out. In story form it shares Shaddia Habbal’s eclipse chasing and also explains some of the science along with many, many photographs. Recommended for ages 9 and up.