A Celestial Christmas Gift

B O S T O N, Dec. 26, 2000 -- As celestial events go, it no doubt paled incomparison to the Star of Bethlehem. Yet, skywatchers in much ofNorth America were treated Monday to a rarity of rarities: Apartial solar eclipse on Christmas Day.

At its midday peak, the moon’s shadow sweeping across theNortheast United States obliterated as much of the 60 percent ofthe sun, turning the solar disc into an odd-looking yellowcrescent.

Viewing was best in New England and the upper Midwest, whileclouds obscured the view through much of the nation’s midsection.

A Three-Century Wait

How unusual is a Christmas solar eclipse? The last one occurredin 1954, and was visible only in parts of Africa. The next partialChristmas eclipse, according to Fred Espenak of NASA’s GoddardSpace Flight Center, will occur on December 25, 2307.

In Boston, where the temperature barely reached 20 degrees, onlya few die-hards were out on the historic Boston Common to watch theeclipse.

“It seemed important — just the coincidence of it being onChristmas Day,” said Pat Rowell, talking through her scarf. Sheand her husband Ken were walking back to their home in the nearbyBeacon Hill neighborhood and planned to return with a small paperdevice they had made for safe viewing of what they said was theirfirst eclipse.

At first, Francisco Healda said he “couldn’t care about theeclipse.” But then he remembered buying a pair of fancy,eclipse-viewing glasses in Mexico to watch an eclipse there 10years ago, and decided he might try to dig them out of hisCambridge apartment.

Viewing a solar eclipse with the naked eye can be extremelydangerous. Experts recommend using special equipment, such as awelder’s lens or a pinhole projector, to protect the eyes and getthe best view.

Ron Jencks was in awe when he finally made out the chunk themoon’s shadow had taken out of the sun. The Providence, R.I., manwas just out taking a walk when he was told the partial solareclipse was at its peak.

Not an Everyday Occurence

“That’s amazing,” he said. “That whole piece is gone. It’snot something you see every day.”

Jay Brausch, a Glen Ullin, N.D., man who has been photographingand writing about celestial movements regularly since 1981, said hecaught a good glimpse of the eclipse, even though clouds hadthreatened to ruin the show.

He took pictures while standing outside, where the temperaturewas 14 degrees.

“I’m glad I got some results out of it,” Brausch said. “Iwasn’t skunked and I got more than a good gander anyway, withnatural cloud cover acting as a natural filter.”

In Baltimore, about 200 people showed up at the Maryland ScienceCenter, where visitors looked at the eclipse through theplanetarium’s telescope. The telescope was outfitted with specialfilters and visitors also were given welding masks.

Chestnuts were roasted using a parabolic mirror powered by therays of the eclipse.

“That was worth it, that was fantastic,” said Cindy Ordes ofBaltimore.

Others showed less enthusiasm.

“It is so cold, it is so cold,” Spencer Pontell, 7, chanted ashe walked toward the Science Center with his mother, MelaniePontell.

“It’s a little education while he’s off from school,” shesaid.

Jim O’Leary, director of the planetarium, said 14 staff andvolunteers agreed to show up on Christmas to stage the event,which attracted about 200.

“Everybody on the staff felt the same way. This is what we doand everyone wanted to share the event,” O’Leary said.

Some Ecstatic About Sighting

In Southboro, police Officer Kenneth Fitzgerald said he was“ecstatic” at the sighting.

“We’re approximately at 25 percent ... looking forward to goingall the way to 65 percent,” Fitzgerald said while gazing at thegrowing eclipse Monday afternoon.

Fitzgerald brought to work special viewing glasses he’d orderedfrom an astronomy magazine in anticipation of watching the eclipse.The glasses had paper frames with heavy fog lenses.

The officer said he added astronomy to his list of hobbies afterhe began working the late-night shift at the police department.

“I work midnight to 8 a.m., so there’s not much to do when youwork nights,” he said. Monday, he was blessed with the day shift.

Where skies were clear, the eclipse was visible in thecontinental United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and theCaribbean. Residents of Baffin Island, in far northeastern Canada,saw the biggest bite taken out of the sun: About 72 percent atmaximum phase.

Only about 20 percent of the sun was covered in the SouthwesternUnited States.

Lauren Likkel, an assistant professor of physics and astronomyat the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said solar eclipsesusually are visible from any particular spot on Earth only once ortwice a decade.

“What are the odds of having a partial eclipse on the lastChristmas Day of the millennium?” Likkel asked.