Hundreds of people across the state looked through telescopes, behind welder's glasses, and special lenses to see a solar eclipse Monday, June 10.
The annular eclipse covered about 50 percent of the sun, in Utah skies, for a few moments, explained David Moulton, astronomer with the Utah Valley Astronomy Association.
A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. If the moon totally covers the sun it is a total eclipse, Moulton said. This one is an annular eclipse because the moon is too close to the earth. It only covers part of the sun.
Many families and amateur astronomers gathered at Harmon's Grocery Store in Orem, for a solar eclipse party. One observer, Debbie Whitaker said she plans on traveling to Hawaii in December of 2003 for the next big eclipse.
'It gives me the feeling that we're part of something bigger,' said Whitaker. 'We're actually made up of star stuff, I feel connected to the stars.'
An excited James Tuck 14, Provo, said, he wishes the eclipse would last for a full day so that he could skip school for a day.
Moulton said that total solar eclipses are very rare.
'A total eclipse happens on any single point on earth on average once every 400 years. But there are lots of partial eclipses,' Moulton said.
'I don't think there is one in Utah during my lifetime. There are very few in North America,' Moulton said.
Kevin Bushnell Store Director of Harmons was happy to see so many people come out to gaze at the big star.
'I think it's a lot of fun. We're really big on doing things that help the community and that's what excites me,' Bushnell said. 'A lot of families come out to these parties.'
Tony Fowler, from Orem, explained that it was nice to be able to see the eclipse through a telescope.
'I called all over this morning to see if somebody was going to do something. This is the only star party I could find. It's good to be here with my family,' said Fowler.
The last partial eclipse in Utah was Dec 25 last year and it only covered about 10 percent of the sun.