HOULTON, Maine — Somewhat uncooperative weather Monday did not deter the excitement for a small group of people gathered in Houlton to watch the solar eclipse.
Overcast skies diminished what was already supposed to be a 50 percent solar eclipse in northern Maine.
Ali Stone, a teacher at Greater Houlton Christian Academy, organized an eclipse watch at the school Monday afternoon, complete with a laptop setup to stream live feeds of the event from around the country.
“We just invited a couple of friends, because we thought it would be fun to get together and watch the eclipse,” she said. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, really. It was really nice this morning, so I thought I would give it a try.”
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- Ali Stone of Hodgdon shows how two pieces of cardboard can be used to view the solar eclipse during an eclipse party Monday afternoon at the Greater Houlton Christian Academy. (Joseph Cyr)
Those gathered used a variety of homemade devices to safely watch the eclipse. Their viewers ranged from cereal boxes to larger cardboard boxes, with holes punched in them to project the sun’s image onto a white sheet of paper.
“We are only getting about a 50 percent eclipse, but still it’s pretty neat,” Stone said.
Her daughter Janey, 9, was especially excited by the occurrence as she dressed in a replica NASA jumpsuit for the event. Stone said her daughter has taken a strong interest in aeronautics after a trip she took this past summer.
“I really like space,” Janey said. “I went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum [in Washington, D.C.]. It was really cool.”
Her favorite part of the museum was seeing the Concorde spaceship.
Janey added she was excited to see the eclipse, but was more excited for the total solar eclipse scheduled to arrive in Maine in 2024.
