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Clouds Clear to Reveal Total Solar Eclipse

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by The Sower Staff - Aug 22, 2017

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by Abigail Wisniewski

The Seward water crisis did not deter students, faculty and guests from enjoying the total solar eclipse on August 21. Nearly 2,300 students from elementary, middle and high school classes joined Concordia faculty and students in Bulldog Stadium for a special eclipse-themed chapel service and commentary, and of course, the main event.

“We felt like we had a responsibility to help these students see totality,” Professor of Physics Dr. Brent Royuk said. “We saw that it was a really important service that Concordia could provide to share the wonder of God’s creation. It’s a magnificent feeling right now to know that they have that experience.”

One viewer, 2017 Concordia alumnus Clyde Ericson, was able to experience the eclipse at his alma mater. He returned for the first time as a teacher.

“Just graduating and then being here on the first day of school, is kind of funny. I’m happy to see all these people here and start this new chapter in my life as well,” Ericson said. “I hope (my students see)…how marvelous this whole universe is and God’s part in that (and)…that it’s a memory that they remember for their whole life.”

In the 90 minutes leading up to the eclipse, Royuk and fellow Professor of Physics Dr. Robert Hermann provided scientific explanations and commentary to guide spectators through what was happening in the sky. During that time clouds obscured some of the partial eclipse, but cleared just in time to view totality, where the moon completely covered the sun except for a a flickering outline.

“It’s a build up,” Hermann, who had been preparing for the eclipse with Royuk for nearly three years, said. “It gets closer and closer; you get worried, you get tense, you get nervous and then to have the same thing happen throughout this hour and a half, wondering ‘Are we even going to see anything?’ Then at that moment, to be able to see the corona is just stunning.”

Even during the build-up, the beauty was not lost on those viewing the partial eclipse through their eclipse glasses.

“What an awesome God we have to create a world like this, and then to allow us to see it and enjoy it and celebrate the wonder of His creation,” President Brian Friedrich said.

For some students, the eclipse was not the only momentous occasion in their lives. Freshmen experienced as the first day of their college career as well as the first total eclipse that passed over Seward since 1194.

“This is definitely an interesting first day with the water going out in all of Seward and the eclipse,” freshman Ryan Groh said. “It definitely makes it memorable.”