Milligan College was located close enough to the path of Monday’s (August 21, 2017) total solar eclipse to provide over 96% totality. The moon began passing over the disc of the sun a little after 1:00 PM, and the eclipse reached its local maximum at 2:37 PM.
User Services Librarian Jude Morrissey went home to view the eclipse with her kids, and Research Librarian Mary Jackson traveled two hours south to Greenville, SC to experience 100% totality with a Milligan faculty colleague. That left Library Director Gary Daught, and Information Resources Librarian Lindsay Kenderes on location to staff the Welshimer Library. But that didn’t keep them inside! Lindsay had a pair of viewing glasses, and Gary quickly made a pinhole projector out of the lid of a photocopy paper box.
At the maximum, the light was noticeably dimmer, with the quality of an early evening in the summer before the sun begins to set. At the same time, it was remarkable how bright it was even at 96% coverage. The air temperature definitely felt cooler for a few moments on the otherwise hot day. And it was most interesting to hear the cicadas start chirping in the mid-afternoon. They were obviously confused!
