Locals view rare celestial event

People all over the area were outside Monday afternoon for a look at the partial solar eclipse.

There was 75 to 80 percent coverage of the sun by the moon in this area, and viewers took a variety of precautions to protect their eyes from the infrared rays.

Dave Pentz and Abram Myers of Advanced Auto Parts on South Antrim Way in Greencastle shielded their eyes with welding masks. Up the road at the corner of Franklin Street, Nancy and Michael Carter initially used a pinhole projector, but took a much better look after Mary Bock of MyEyeDoctor brought them a pair of solar glasses.

“Oh, wow!” Nancy Carter exclaimed as she looked skyward.

Also along Franklin Street, Jesus Ayala was spotted sporting solar glasses outside El Sombrero.

Bryan Mansell was on the back steps of an East Baltimore Street apartment and didn’t have a lot of luck using the cereal box viewing method.

“You can’t really see anything through this contraption,” Mansell said.

Across the parking lot outside Wertime and Gomez, David Wertime, Melizza Zavala, Katerin Balan and Lois Haverstock were looking down instead of up.

In their hands were a colander and pieces of paper with designs made with pinholes. The eclipse made partial moon-shaped shadows on pieces of white paper they placed on the macadam.