Solar Eclipse In Atchison, Kansas

On August 21, 2017, residents in a swath extending from Oregon to South Carolina will be able to see a total solar eclipse for approximately two minutes and 40 seconds. It is the first one to be visible across the country in 99 years. During a total eclipse, the moon comes between  the sun and the earth. Darkness will cover the earth and a cool wind will be felt. During the eclipse viewers should be able to see planets and even stars.

One place that will be viewing this phenomenon is Atchison, Kansas. The Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica are sponsoring a  retreat and picnic in connection with the event. Dr. Aileen O'Donoghue, associate professor of physics at St. Lawrence University and former observer at the Vatican Observatory, will lead the retreat. She will incorporate the ideas of Teilhard de Chardin, Beatrice Bruteau, and others to explore the origin and evolution of the universe. It will be a time "for seeking the presence and creative action of God in the far reaches of time and space as well as within ourselves and all that surrounds us."

Benedictine College and the city of  Atchison are also planning events. They will provide special solar glasses for viewing. We expect large crowds and traffic jams, but hopefully the sky will be clear and all will be able to see this once in a lifetime opportunity.

In this series of still from 2013, the eclipse sequence runs from right to left. The center image shows totality; on either side are the 2nd contact (right) and 3rd contact (left diamond rings that mark the beginning and end of totality respectively)







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB    
Read more
Image
    “Wonderfully Made” When I took a college English course, our first assignment was to write an essay about whether we would rather lose our sight or lose our legs. It was a thought-provoking choice. If we became blind, we would miss seeing our loved ones and all the beauty of our world. If we could not walk, we would be hindered from traveling and moving around without help. I chose to keep my eyesight since I love to read and write and enjoy the variety and beauty that surrounds us.   Of course, I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice in real life, but it was a thought-provoking assignment. It made me think about how much we take our bodies for granted. I began to think about all the organs, veins, arteries, canals, nerves, and bones we have in our bodies and how they all work together to keep us alive and healthy. It is not until we lose one of them that we realize how magnificent we are, created in the “image and likeness of God.” God loves each and every one of us as if
Read more
Image
  Overcoming Discouragement Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture.  I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.”  It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feel
Read more