Talkeetna views 2017 solar eclipse

by:  Phillip Manning, Katie Writer – KTNA

The solar eclipse of 2017 has come and gone. While some ventured to the Lower 48 to witness the total eclipse, some of those who remain in the Upper Valley got their own chance to see the celestial event.

At the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station, more than two-dozen people stopped by to take a look through borrowed eclipse shades or binoculars fit with eye protection as the moon obscured just over forty percent of the sun on Monday morning.

While some parts of the Susitna Valley had their views obscured by fog, much of Talkeetna had a clear view for most of the event. That included Talkeetna Elementary School. KTNA’s Katie Writer spoke with Mariah Smith at the school about how they viewed the 2017 eclipse.

KTNA volunteer Kathleen Fleming reports from the path of totality in Oregon that much of the state saw clear skies for the eclipse, and that the minute-and-a-half of totality seemed to go by “in a split second.”

Those who missed Monday’s eclipse in person will have to wait for their next chance, but not all that long. North America will once again be in the path of a total solar eclipse in 2024.

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