By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Eric Gregory put on his special glasses to witness the solar eclipse in the heavens, something that was happening all around him in downtown Princeton and around the country Monday.
“It is beautiful and inspiring,” he said of the rare phenomena that drew a police estimate of 2,000 people to Palmer Square for a viewing party. They came from near and far with their folding chairs and their curiosity to see something rare in the cosmos.
“The interest is amazing,” said Neta Bahcall, a Princeton University professor in the astrophysics department.
Her department and the Princeton Public Library co-sponsored the party, complete with free cookies and watermelon. They were young and old, some who were children themselves during the last eclipse seen in America in 1979.
“It is phenomenal how many people have showed up,” said Kelsey R. Ockert, technology librarian at the library, as she was sharing viewing glasses with passersby.
Princeton was not in the full path of totality, as other parts of the country were, to see the total eclipse. Bahcall said the area saw 75 percent of it — but that was enough for the crowd to go into awe around 2:35 p.m. when the moon was covering the sun. The crowd let out a collective sound of wonder, as many pointed their smart phones upward to photograph the moment.
“You can’t miss something like this,” said Eunice Morant.
Gregory, a Princeton professor in the humanities, came with his wife and their two young sons to watch as a family. He said it was important to teach children the “beauty of science.”
Some came with homemade viewing contraptions made of cereal and other boxes, while others took a glimpse through telescopes.
The library was passing out free viewing glasses, since it was considered unsafe to look directly into the sun. Susan Kanter was among those who waited two hours on line to get her pair, excited to be part of the moment.
“It’s great fun,” she said.
Joan and Dick Druckman came from Princeton Junction to join the crowd, to be part of what she called the “community spirit.” Others, though, came from farther away — including from out of state just to be there. Heavy media coverage helped publicize the party, said Janie Hermann, public programming librarian.
But in explaining what else drove the attendance, she said “people are looking for some reason to come together,” to be part of “a shared experience.”
Even with so big a crowd, the event went off without incident, police said.
