Frederick Community College held a special watch event for the highly-anticipated Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017.

The well-attended event was planned by Dr. Perry Wood, Assistant Professor of Science, and Emily Boward, Science Laboratory Technician, and assisted by other members of the FCC Science Department.

Professor Wood set up two telescopes that all members of the College community could use to view the eclipse throughout the afternoon. The telescopes had a solar filter which allowed for direct viewing of the sun. While waiting in line to see into the telescopes, many people passed around solar glasses, a double welding glass filter, and homemade pinhole cameras.

Emily Boward obtained a special solar filter so she could take photos of the sun on her camera throughout the solar event and put together a photo series that showed the eclipse from 1:23 p.m. to 4:12 p.m.

The Science Department was happy to have such a large turnout, with many people staying for the entire eclipse.

“It turned out to be a great reason for an impromptu party to start the semester,” Professor Wood said. “It was great to see people bring their homemade pinhole cameras and sharing with others. I was already excited to the see the solar eclipse and everyone's enthusiasm added to that excitement. The almost universal response when looking at the eclipse was an enthusiastic ‘that is so cool!’"

We thank Professor Wood and Emily Boward for planning this wonderful College event. We also thank Dr. Marc Frankenberry, chair of the Science Department, and Miguel Rodriguez and Pegah Avazpour for their assistance and support. Miguel is a current FCC student and STEM Club President and Pegah, a former FCC student, was a National Science Federation intern who worked with Professors Wood and Debra Ellis this past summer.