Allegheny College To Celebrate Historic Solar Eclipse at Robertson Athletic Complex
A celebration will be held at the Robertson Athletic Complex Football Stadium on April 8 from noon to 4 p.m. during the eclipse. Allegheny College community, family, friends, and guests are invited to attend.
The Astronomy Club and astrophysicist Professor Jamie Lombardi will be there to answer questions and help attendees understand the phenomenon.
The moon will blot out the sun along a roughly 4,200-mile-long, 115-mile-wide path across North America. This narrow path will span only 13 states, Canada, and Mexico, and total darkness only experienced by roughly 32 million people.
Allegheny College is lucky enough to be in “the path of totality,” meaning that at approximately 3:16 p.m., we will be enveloped in total darkness for almost three minutes. If it is a clear day, we will be able to see the Sun’s corona, planets, stars, and potentially (with binoculars) a comet.
Lasting from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, the partial eclipse phase (when the Moon only partially blocks the Sun) straddles the total phase. A total solar eclipse will not happen again in Pennsylvania until 2079 and in Crawford County until 2144.
People can sit on the visitor bleachers or bring a chair or blanket for the field. Limited parking will be available. Transportation is available via vans from noon until 1:00 pm, and shuttles will run from 1:00 until 4:15 pm.
The first 500 attendees will receive free eclipse glasses (note that glasses are a MUST to enjoy the eclipse, but they can be shared). Free T-shirts will be given to the first 300 students with I.D.
The shuttle will pick people up at Lord Gate on N. Main St., enter the upper entrance, and drop them off at the stadium’s main entrance. They will return via Park, Allegheny St., and N. Main.
There will be astronomy-themed music, concessions, and the merchandise trailer selling T-shirts, glow-in-the-dark cups, and eclipse glasses.