'Like Pac-Man with his mouth wide open': Viewing the 2024 solar eclipse from Farmington
As was the case in many locations across New Mexico, Monday’s solar eclipse largely was obscured by cloud cover in San Juan County, although that didn’t stop several dozen people from gathering on the San Juan College campus for a viewing event during which they were able to witness the celestial showcase in a variety of formats.
Beginning at 11 a.m., San Juan College astronomy professor David Mayeux was camped out in the courtyard outside the Planetarium with two telescopes with digital eyepieces, a shadow box with a screen inside and a covered laptop computer. Mayeux labored mightily to offer magnified views of the eclipse whenever the cloud cover thinned, as it did periodically.
By the time the eclipse reached its peak in Farmington at 12:31 p.m., nearly everyone in attendance had had the chance to see the eclipse — or at least a projection of it — via one of those methods. Most of those in attendance also had eclipse-safe sunglasses or hand-held cards they were using to watch the progression of the moon as it advanced between the sun and the earth.
“That’s about as good an image as I’m going to get,” Mayeux said at one point, adjusting the focus on the smaller of his two telescopes and projecting an image of the eclipse on to a folded sheet of white paper he held in his hand just inches from a digital eyepiece. “It looks a little bit like Pac-Man with his mouth wide open.”
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Mayeux originally planned to project an enlarged image from the smaller telescope onto a white screen located in a shadow box, as he has done for previous eclipses. But the clouds that prevailed through most of the day didn’t provide bright enough conditions for him to do that, so he compromised by focusing a smaller image on the paper.
The Planetarium director also was using his larger telescope to transmit images of the eclipse directly to his laptop, which allowed dozens of people who had logged into a Zoom meeting to watch its progression. Mayeux alternated his time between describing the action for those online guests and refocusing the smaller telescope for those who turned out in person.
The crowd include Caitlin Marchi, a recent transplant to Farmington from Albuquerque, who came to enjoy the show with her two boys — one of whom, Michael Marchi-Gieryng, sprawled out on the grass on his back with a pair of eclipse glasses affixed to his face to study the eclipse.
Another visitor to the campus, Susan Levin, described herself as a sky-watching enthusiast, noting that she took in the 2017 solar eclipse at an event at Aztec Ruins National Monument.
“It’s like somebody took a bite out of it,” she said, describing the appearance of the sun as the moon’s shadow grew more and more pronounced across its face on Monday.
From the vantage point of San Juan County, only 72% of the sun was covered by the moon at its maximum point at 12:31 p.m. But that didn’t stop the temperature from dropping noticeably or the sky from darkening.
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Mayeux acknowledged he was a little disappointed by the conditions on Monday, but he said he had tried to go into the day with his expectations in check.
“What’s happening is exactly what they said would happen,” he said, referring to the forecast. “I knew we were not going to have picture-perfect views with this. But I’m kind of pleasantly surprised I have anything to show.”
Mayeux said this is the first time he has presented a solar eclipse-watching event in Farmington when conditions were not ideal. Previous events in 2012, 2017 and 2023 unfolded under blue skies.
“Those were all clear,” he said. “But if you keep rolling the dice, you’re going to lose.”
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: 2024 Solar eclipse-viewing event at San Juan College draws a crowd
