Chasing Eclipses: A Streak of Near Misses and a Small Victory
I haven’t had the best luck with astronomical events lately. A couple of weeks ago, there was a lunar eclipse in the early morning. I woke up in time for it, but the moon was too low in the sky, hidden behind the hills to the west.
Last month, a rare planetary alignment was supposed to be visible, featuring as many as five planets—Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. The night was clear, but despite my best efforts, I could only spot Mars and Jupiter. Mars was recognizable by its faint orange glow, but even then, I wouldn’t have found it without the help of the SkyView Lite app.
Then there was last year’s “Great American Solar Eclipse,” which I completely missed. Not only was I in a less-than-ideal part of the city, but I also lacked eclipse glasses. That experience made me vow to be better prepared next time and bring back some paper eclipse viewing glasses from Colorado.
So, when Andrea’s mother—who knows I have a bit of a nerdy side when it comes to celestial events—sent me an article from La Voz de Galicia about an upcoming partial solar eclipse, I took notice. The article even specified the exact time: 11:46 a.m. the next morning.
That morning, I set out for an easy run, making sure to bring the glasses with me. A couple of minutes before the eclipse was set to begin, I stopped by the gym—where Andrea was working out—and convinced her to step outside for a look. I handed her the glasses, eager to share the moment.
She put them on, looked up, and said, “I don’t see anything.”
I took the glasses and tried for myself. At first, I saw nothing either—those lenses are dark—but after shifting two steps to the left, I suddenly exclaimed, “¡Sí! ¡Sí!”
Sure enough, the moon had taken a bite out of the sun!
Apparently, I was so enthusiastic that Andrea had to tell me to calm down. But after I handed the glasses back, she took another look and admitted it was pretty cool. I even managed to capture a photo by holding the glasses in front of my iPhone’s 3x zoom lens.
Not a bad way to start the day. Those cheap eclipse glasses are definitely worth keeping around. Now I’m wondering if I’ll get another chance to use them before the next total solar eclipse on April 12, 2026!