UCF students were disappointed that the overcast night kept them from enjoying the super moon total eclipse Sunday night.
But it didn’t stop Knights from charging Memory Mall in hopes of catching a small peak of the eclipse. Optimistic students filled the mall at 9:00 p.m., along with ten telescopes provided by UCF Robinson Observatory, waiting for the blood moon to rise high enough in the sky. “It’s disappointing it’s on the other side of the garage” said a fellow sophomore, Daniel Hyun, 19, when he first arrived. Other students rushed to the nearby garage roof tops to try and spot it sooner ‒ once the clouds eventually parted.
That moment never arrived. “Just too cloudy here @UCF tonight. No #LunarEclipse to be seen,” posted UCF Robinson Observatory at 11:22 p.m. The lunar eclipse began at 9:07 p.m. and the total eclipse began at 10:11 p.m. The total eclipse would last over an hour and end at 11:23 p.m.; the partial ends at 12:27 a.m.
Knights still made it a fun time. “It turned into a giant social event,” said Ramsay Newman, 20, a sophomore when asked how he felt about the event. Knights lounged around in chairs or blankets they had brought for the event; hanging out with friends as they waited patiently.
This special celestial event won’t happen again until 2033, according to Orlando Sentinel. This is also the last total lunar eclipse visible from Florida until 2018, according to timeanddate.com.
“This is a once per year kinda event we do, in the fall every year, and we just decided to coincide it with this eclipse,” said Akbar Whizin, a Ph. D. graduate student working with the Observatory to help Knights with using the telescopes. The UCF Robinson Observatory also hosts the “Knights Under the Stars” events weekly at the UCF Observatory located near the UCF Police station on Ara Dr. It’s open and free to the public.
