On April 8, everyone experienced an astronomical anomaly only seen every one to three years – a solar eclipse. Although solar eclipses aren’t anything new, it’s extremely rare to have one in the United States. In fact, the next time a solar eclipse will be viewable from the US will be on March 30, 2033. Considering this is a rare event, Emerson students were excused from school on Monday to experience it. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint.

“I thought it was something that was literally out of this world,” said Senior Vikhyath Jonalagadda. “It felt extremely unrealistic and seeing everything turn dark in a couple of seconds was eerie.”

Junior Aarya Patel had a different take.

“Visually it was really nice to see something huge like this,” Patel said. “I was completely amazed to watch it happen and I didn’t think it was eerie, rather something breathtaking.”

The eclipse can only be viewed with special glasses. During a solar eclipse, the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, and looking at it can damage your eyes due to the intense brightness. Luckily, the glasses let in a small amount of light through the lens, allowing viewers to safely enjoy the eclipse.

“I had eclipse sunglasses, so it was a great experience watching it from that perspective,” said Senior Anvita Nandula.

While those who came to school viewed the eclipse using school-issued glasses, other students opted to find their own.

“Although I had my own glasses that I bought from a store, they turned out to be faulty and didn’t really work,” Patel said. “Because of that, I had a spot in my eye that didn’t go away until like a day later, so it’s important to be careful.”

Aside from being safe and having the right equipment to view the eclipse, the experience was memorable for everyone.

“It just felt like we were part of something bigger, and I hope to experience that many more times in my future,” Nandula said.