Solar eclipse brings together friends, family

The Homestead Observatory, a farm house that had a small dome and an 8-inch telescope in its large front pasture, was the stomping ground for the Pumpkin Center Astronomy Club on Monday.

A dozen or so people gathered ‘round and caught up on life while enjoying good food, people and even the total solar eclipse.

Kaye Miller and Wendy Tatroult, members of the club, along with their many friends, got together Monday afternoon to revel in the rare total solar eclipse. Every two minutes, someone would crouch inside the small observatory and safely stare at the eclipse. They were tailgating, offering free solar glasses and just catching up on life.

As the Moon was blocking the Sun, the wispy, cloudy afternoon started getting dark and cool. Almost everything was quiet, except for the cheery voices and the occasional bird song. As the Moon moved away, it began to be brighter and warmer, but the friends weren’t going home just yet. They stayed a little longer and enjoyed the beautiful day while they had it.

Mike Coucke, president of Pumpkin Center Astronomy Club, said the astronomy club is a very loose organization.

“A bunch of people near Pumpkin Center come together sometimes for astronomy events and sometimes just to come together,” Coucke said. “This is the third solar eclipse that we’ve come together for at this location.”

Coucke, who has a degree in astronomy from the University of Arizona, said he and his friends got together and started the club.

“Everybody here enjoys looking at the stars and the planets and the moon,” Coucke said. “Of course out here, we have good skies at night to do a lot of that.”

Coucke said he expected what he saw about the eclipse.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be total,” Coucke said.

Miller, Tatroult and Coucke said this isn’t their first eclipse. The last eclipse they remember seeing was the 2017 partial eclipse.

Miller said the eclipse was a once in a lifetime experience.

“It was awesome, very awesome,” Miller said.

“It’s pretty amazing to be able to experience it, feel the difference in the temperature,” Tatroult said.