In Photos: Harvard Starstruck by Solar Eclipse

By Ike J. Park
Harvard affiliates across campus stepped outside Monday afternoon to witness a near-total solar eclipse — the first visible from North America since 2017.  The next total solar eclipse to pass through the continent will not occur until 2044.
By Crimson Multimedia Staff

By Briana Howard Pagán

Students take a break from the classroom and gather on the balconies of the Science Center to witness the celestial event. The solar eclipse crossed North America over the course of Monday afternoon, with the zone of totality beginning in Mexico and ending in Canada.

From left to right: freshmen Mirika J. Jambudi ’27, Isabella C. Gidi ’27, and Katherine L. Byunn-Rieder ’27 watch the eclipse through solar glasses from the Science Center Plaza.

Eclipse watchers look through a telescope at the sun minutes before Cambridge’s peak coverage. Though outside of the path of totality, Cambridge experienced a near-total solar eclipse with more than 93 percent of the sun covered by the moon at its peak.

The Physics, Astronomy, and Earth and Planetary Science departments, in collaboration with the Student Astronomers at Harvard-Radcliffe, organized the watch party in the Science Center Plaza.

Activities set up around the plaza also included LightSound eclipse sonification and pinhole camera creation.

Students sprawl across the banks of the Charles River, soaking in the warm weather. On nearby Weeks Bridge, the Dean of Students Office hosts a watch party for students.

Micah I. Williams ’24 takes a photo of the sky through his eclipse glasses.

The eclipse lasted for two hours and 23 minutes in Cambridge, with peak coverage occurring at 3:29 p.m.

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