LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Having only a partial solar eclipse in downtown Louisville did not take away from the awe and wonder of so many first-time viewers, like a lot of the kids looking to make the most out of the rare event at the Kentucky Science Center.
“I loved it so much,” said Zara, a fifth-grader from Wilder Elementary School. “I kept like trying to film this one TikTok cause I wanted everyone to see the solar eclipse because not many people can. And I want people to see it because it was awesome.”
At about 3:05 p.m. Monday, the street outside the Kentucky Science Center was packed with visitors all gazing up at the sky, wanting to see 98% totality in downtown Louisville.
“I really love to see eclipses because they just amaze me every time, and they’re really cool to see,” said another young eclipse watcher.
Like everywhere else, it was so eerie to see, almost like twilight. The temperature dropped about six degrees in the city.
“It got cold and dark for a second. It was really like weird,” said Parker, a student from Evansville.
Kids like Parker were in awe, laid out on the sidewalk, ready to take it all in.
“You know we realized the next eclipse is in 2044, and they will all be adults, Lord willing, at that point,” said Kaitlin White, a mom from Lexington. “So we wanted to seize this opportunity.”
One Kentucky Science Center educator put it best, calling it a humbling experience.
“I just was reminded about how vast the universe is, and how awesome that is, and how cool that is, and how there is so much to be explored,” said Helene Simon. “The greater things that move us, like gravity, are just always at play, and so science is so important.”
Visitors at the Kentucky Science Center were not just observers of science, they were also doers. In line with the celestial event, visitors made rockets, pin hole cameras, paper plate constellations and many more science-oriented crafts.
The center also sent a sold-out group of about 150 visitors to Evansville, Ind. to get into the path of totality. They left early Monday morning, looking to get the best viewing experience.
The programming was made possible by the nation’s leading space exploration center, NASA.
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