Students and community members of NMSU were able to take part in viewing the partial solar eclipse on Monday by looking at the sky through telescopes and eclipse glasses courtesy of the University’s Astronomy department.

With the help of many first-year graduate students, professors and staff members of the department, the school set up telescopes that date back to historic times in scientific history, and had eclipse glasses on hand for anyone on the University’s campus to borrow. The department’s goal was for the NMSU and overall Las Cruces community to become scientifically aware and interested in the world around them.

Dr. Jim Murphy, interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the event grabbed a great amount of public attention. “It’s an opportunity for people to see that you don’t have to have sophisticated equipment to see these things” Murphy said.

Event planners that were involved in making the event a reality said they have a strong passion for astronomy and believe the NMSU community can benefit from an event like this. “Even just a little bit more appreciation of the natural world we live in would be awesome,” said first-year graduate student David Decolibus.

The graduate students at the event were available to answer any questions anyone interested in learning more about the physics behind the natural phenomenon might have had.  The public could see sun spots with the help of the eclipse glasses and the guidance of the astronomy department.

Although much of the astronomy department have travelled to different states where the eclipse was in 100 percent totality, the staff members and professors who stayed in Las Cruces still emulate the goal of the entire department: keep your eyes safe.  The eclipse was only be seen in 60 precent of its totality in Las Cruces, however the telescopes present at the event still have filters over the lenses to protect the eyes of those who look through the telescope.

Lyle Huber, a staff member of the astronomy department, emphasized the astronomical and historical aspect of the national event, explaining that people should be aware of events of this scale.

The event was scheduled to last around three hours, with 11:45 AM being the key time to look through the telescopes and eclipse glasses. However, during the relatively short span of time, in many ways, students and the Las Cruces community were able to immerse themselves in a field of science that now may not seem not so hard to understand.