Eclipse fills watchers with awe.

Byline: REBECCA NOLAN The Register-Guard

Ten-year-old Sky Sobol was just a twinkle in her parents' eyes the last time a solar eclipse was visible from Eugene. She'll be 25 when the next one comes around.

With an event that rare, it's no wonder that Sky and her dad, Mike Sobol, spent late Monday afternoon watching a partial solar eclipse from the College Hill water reservoir in Eugene. That's where the Eugene Astronomical Society provided special-filter telescopes, pinhole projection boxes and Mylar solar eclipse sunglasses to hundreds of amateur sun-watchers who showed up for the viewing.

The eclipse began at 5:08 p.m., and within the hour, the moon's shadow had obscured almost half the sun.

"It's just so great, so wonderful, I can't even explain," Sky said. "I have many other words in my vocabulary, but I can't think of any other way to describe it."

Through one of a dozen telescopes, Sky saw sunspots and the red mountains of the moon, she said.

If she had been standing in Mexico, she would have seen an annular eclipse, when the moon's shadow creates a black spot in the center of the sun, revealing only a bright, outer ring of light, according to Rick Kang, vice president of the Eugene Astronomical Society.

In parts of California and Mexico, the eclipse covered more than 90 percent of the sun.

Here in Oregon, the angle wasn't quite right to create the ring of light. But it was still a dramatic sight.

"It's very rare even to see a partial eclipse like this, especially where we live in Oregon," said Scott Knap, 41.

It's been nearly a decade since Oregonians have seen a solar eclipse, and the next one isn't expected until 2017 - if the weather cooperates.

Fortunately, the clouds took a break on Monday, and the view of the sun was unobstructed.

People stood in lines 10 and 20 deep to catch a glimpse of the eclipse through the dozen filtered telescopes positioned around the reservoir. The astronomical society had 100 pairs of Mylar glasses for sale for $2 but sold out within the first half-hour.

People shared or built their own viewing devices from cardboard tubes, index cards and tin foil.

Megan Mann and her twin brother, Stephen, both 13 1/2 , constructed a pinhole projection device with a discarded cardboard box they found blowing around the reservoir.

Neither had ever seen an eclipse before, except in the movies or on TV.

"I think it's very cool," said younger brother, Kirk Mann, 11. "I've looked at stars before, and constellations, but never before in my lifetime an eclipse."

Aaron Cram, 27, of Eugene had wrapped Mylar film around the lenses of his binoculars. He and friend Ken Loge, 35, watched as the moon's shadow passed across the sun.

"It reminds everybody that we're all in the same space," Loge said. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate it."

Astronomy is one of the most accessible sciences, agreed Barbara Shaw, president of the astronomical society. An astronomical event such as a solar eclipse reminds people that we belong to a much bigger world, she said.

"It's an opportunity to connect with something fascinating in outer space," Shaw said.

CAPTION(S):

CHRIS PIETSCH / The Register-Guard Carol Diller (top) and Michele Miller, both of Eugene, use filtered sunglasses to view the partial eclipse. CHRIS PIETSCH / The Register-Guard Sky Sobol views the partial eclipse through a filter-equipped 8-inch telescope while her father, Mike, waits his turn at an event staged by the Eugene Astronomical Society at College Hill Reservoir in Eugene.