Mackenzie Shields:

The semester has all been leading up to this: April 8, the day of the total solar eclipse. While for some, it may just be a day of canceled classes, for others, it is much more.

Even if you are not an eclipse fanatic, hopping on a plane for each and every one, this is an incredible experience. While other types of eclipses, such as annular and partial solar eclipses, are significantly more common, total solar eclipses are incredibly rare. Think about it – the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, and if the distance is not exactly right, the event will not occur.

The chances that one would occur in Oswego, while we are here studying, are incredibly low. For its rarity alone, it is worth celebrating.

But beyond its rarity, the phenomenon sounds like quite the spectacle. While some may think that it simply resembles the night, the timing will make it eerie. The gathering of people creates a sense of community as we all have our eyes on the very same thing.

There are so many wonderful events happening throughout not only our campus, but also the community of Oswego. Far beyond the limits of campus and the edges of the town, people across the country will have their eyes on the sky. The eclipse inspires art, excitement and awe – and what is more profoundly human than that?

There is a nearly universal human fascination with the sky. We watch sunsets, we name constellations, we find shapes in the clouds. These are things that happen everyday and we still marvel at them: how much more will we marvel at something we will only see once in our lives?

Ethan Semeraro:

The April 8 eclipse will be vastly less cool than anticipated; not only will it likely be cloudy, thus ruining the spectacle, but the overall practical effects of witnessing the eclipse, are not impressive. Due to the cloud cover, the visual phenomena of the eclipse will be reduced only to the sky turning dark, which happens exactly half the time: each and every night, the sky is dark except for the moon. 

The totality is thus unimpressive; were we not robbed of the peculiarity of a darkened sky by the banality of its quotidian nature, the eclipse would be impressive. The nearly once-in-a-lifetime occurrence is only notable because one is likely to never experience another; it is unlikely that prospective lunar shade enjoyers are upset about each and every prior eclipse that they missed. If eclipses were more common, this one would be drained of all the magic, meaning that the current buzz has nothing to do with the eclipse, but the rarity of it. 

The current eclipse buzz is understandable, but it is too much; news of the eclipse is plastered on every surface and media available, when it is nigh impossible to avoid eclipse content, which will literally be above one’s head.

In light of the upcoming lack of (solar) light, one should accept that the cloud cover has ruined the opportunity, and lose no sleep over it. The likely sight of lunar onlookers pointed to the cloudy heavens in silly glasses in the hopes of seeing what may be obscured will be both disappointing and humorous, and the added publicity will draw droves of dreary viewers. This means the city of Oswego will be needlessly busy, crowded, and congested for the missed totality.

Photo by: Eclipse Chasers via Pexels