Like many Americans, members of the University of Delaware community went outside Monday afternoon, Aug. 21, to watch what they could of the first solar eclipse to cut across the United States in nearly 100 years.

A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the earth and sun. Globally, solar eclipses occur about every 18 months, but one eclipse can’t be seen everywhere on the earth’s surface. The different rotations of the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth account for the length of time between visible solar eclipses in one place.

A 70-mile swath of America, from Oregon to South Carolina, was in line for a 100 percent eclipse Monday. The least coverage for anywhere in the continental United States was 49 percent, but clouds could have obstructed the view from any location.

Judi Provencal, associate professor of astronomy at the University of Delaware and resident astronomer at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory, Delaware's only public observatory, spoke to UDaily writer Beth Miller recently about the eclipse, and other astronomical wonders she knows about and teachers her students. A link to the story is here.