Clear skies provide 'magnificent' solar eclipse experience for Monroe County viewers

People traveled from around the world to experience Monday afternoon's total solar eclipse in and around Bloomington.

And while the hundreds of thousands officials predicted and braced for didn't appear, those present for the four minutes of totality here weren't disappointed.

It was, truly, a perfect day in southern Indiana for a solar eclipse.

Ellettsville

Michael Charlot and his mother drove a minivan from East Lansing, Michigan, to Ellettsville Monday to witness the total solar eclipse.

They watched from a grassy knoll at Richland Plaza as the bright sun was reduced to a sliver, then disappeared except for its radiant glowing corona.

They had planned a five-hour drive east but changed routes and headed 300 miles straight south toward Bloomington after cloud cover threatened to obscure the view at their initial destination.

They were heading back to Michigan once the sun reemerged in Ellettsville. Patricia Charlot wasn't keen on the 6 a.m. departure from home that morning, but after seeing her second total solar eclipse − they went to Kentucky in 2017 − she was glad she came along.

She summed up Monday's four minutes of afternoon darkness and her view of the eclipsed sun as "magnificent, spectacular, amazing."

About 50 people sat under clear skies in a grassy field next to Jiffy Treet in Ellettsville to witness the eclipse. Cheers and applause accompanied the celestial wonder as the sun reappeared. Two women in lawn chairs wiped away tears.

Earlier, 14-year-old Keiran Perera had ordered the Shadow and Light Delight Sundae, an eclipse special Jiffy Treet dreamed up to honor the special day: a warm brownie, cake batter ice cream, fudge sauce, whipped cream, candy sprinkles and an Oreo on top.

Switchyard Park

Collective “oohs” and “aahs” filled Switchyard Park at 3:04 p.m. when the sun was hidden by the moon. The minutes of totality brought excited cheers from children and barks from dogs.

Maureen Barn came from the Chicago area. In 2017, she was in Carbondale, Illinois, for the solar eclipse and traveled to Bloomington instead for this one.

Landon Roberson and Hann Burleson traveled eight hours from Ashville, North Carolina, to watch the eclipse in Switchyard Park. They placed their telescope on top of one of the hills near the outdoor stage. Jason Roberts and Delany Cheek, from Naperville, Illinois, were on the same hill with their telescope pointed at the sun.

Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge

Chicago resident Alejandro Zevallos, 24, and his 22-year-old brother Ignacio Zevallos found a prime spot to watch the eclipse at Muscatatuck Wildlife Refuge on Bottom Road.

Ignacio flew more than 5,000 miles from the family home in Peru to see Monday’s eclipse. The brothers left Chicago around 5 a.m. to land at the national refuge northwest of Bloomington. They sought a quiet and remote location and found one.

Omar and Kathy Garcia traveled from their home in Miami, Florida. Omar Garcia said he watched the 2017 eclipse from a friend's home in Georgia. He remembered it as a "humbling and life changing" experience. He wanted to share the experience with his wife, so he tracked the path of totality north until he found an affordable room at the Best Western motel.

They flew to Indianapolis Friday and drove backroads to scout a viewing site, also ending up at Muscatatuck.

IU’s Dunn Meadow

At Dunn Meadow, hundreds of tourists, students and townies gathered to watch the eclipse. As totality darkened the city, the lawn erupted into applause, cheers and laughter.

Elizabeth Hildebrand, an Indiana University student witnessing her first total solar eclipse, said she will remember the experience for the rest of her life.

"It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen," she said. "There's nothing like it."

IU student Zoe Hatfield was glad she joined the crowd instead of watching the eclipse alone at home. "It was so worth being around everyone," she said. "It's such a cool thing, and to experience it with everyone else is really special."

California Institute of Technology astronomy professor Andy Boden thought he knew what to expect during totality. "I knew what it would look like, I knew it would get darker, I knew it would get colder. But there was a breathtaking emotional element to it I wasn't expecting. It was really wonderous."

Downtown Bloomington

Jason Zimmerman of Grayslake, Illinois, came to Bloomington to photograph the eclipse. As he set up his equipment on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn, surrounded by groups spread out on picnic blankets and perched on folding chairs, he said he has been taken by the beauty of Bloomington itself.

"It's just a great little college town," Zimmerman said. "I'm going to have to figure out a way to get this courthouse into my shot."

Bruce Holzman and Kathy Urbach came from Louisville. “Everyone's been really nice and friendly," Holzman said. Both saw a partial eclipse in 2017 in Kentucky. "I'm looking forward to a spiritual experience with this one," Urbach said before the total eclipse began.

IU Memorial Stadium

The football stadium remained largely empty at 11:30 a.m., but a few out-of-town visitors were tailgating in the lot east of the stadium.

Mark and Jina Lawrence came to see daughter Lindy Lawrence, an IU senior who plays trombone in the marching band. They said traffic from Louisville was light.

Cheryl and Darell Receveur and daughter Cheri left Georgetown at 5:30 a.m. expecting heavy traffic that didn’t materialize. They had considered going to Evansville and Indianapolis but decided on Bloomington given the weather forecast and length of the eclipse here.

The family saw the 2017 eclipse and said Monday's Bloomington event was an opportunity to continue a family tradition.

During a speech at the stadium, former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison said the eclipse should remind people of what unites humanity and cause us think about what can be done to make lives better for people, animals and plants.

“What are you going to do on the other side of this darkness?” Jemison asked.

Actor William Shatner, known as Capt. James T. Kirk from “Star Trek,” spoke at the stadium as well, focusing on the history of Earth and the moon, before describing “magic moments” that occur during an eclipse.

“The moon is going to insert itself between us and the sun. Sparrows and cicadas will play, bewildered by the unexpected darkness … Ghostly owls and curious bobcats will come out to hunt. … Then, almost as quickly, they will scurry back to their place, back to their familiar rhythm, where night means night and day means sunlight.”

This story was compiled by H-T reporters Carol Kugler, Boris Ladwig, Laura Lane and Brian Rosenzweig.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Clear skies provide 'magnificent' Bloomington solar eclipse experience