On a bright sunny Thursday in Balboa Park, instead of looking at the sights and sceneries in the park, Philip Skinner and his son, Tobin, looked to the sky.
The duo were looking at the partial eclipse outside the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
“I’ve always been interested in science, and he wanted to to see the eclipse,” Skinner said.
Asked what it’s like to look at the eclipse, Tobin excitedly said, “It was great.”
Skinner wasn’t the only parent there. Shelly Stewart also brought her two children.
“I think it’s pretty neat. You can see the sun spots on there,” Stewart said. “It doesn’t happen very often, and it’s fun to bring the kids. They didn’t know that the moon could go in front of the sun, so it’s good to teach them and show them.”
More than 100 people were at the plaza near the fountain to watch the show through protective lenses, telescopes and using pin holes with paper.
Eclipses were once seen as bad omens, Fleet resident astronomer Lisa Will said. But those opinions have changed as we understand more about the process, she said.
Eclipses have also led to scientific discoveries, Will said. A total eclipse in the early 1900s helped prove Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
“There was a star that was supposed to be behind the sun, but it was still observable during the total solar eclipse because the light from that star bent around the sun,” Will said. “The sun was acting like a gravitational lens, just like General Relativity predicted.”
While eclipses are no longer as astronomically significant, it is still a sight to behold, she said.
“It’s exciting because they are so rare,” Will said. “The last time something like this was visible in San Diego was 2012.”
The next time a solar eclipse will be visible in San Diego won’t be until Aug. 21, 2017.
