AMAZONIA, Mo. Texans Lorin and Chris Matthews traveled from the Brazos River to a gravel road splitting corn and soybean fields adjacent to the Missouri River to lay eyes on the moon eclipsing the sun.

The roadside crew included their four children Allyriane and Sterling, 12; Zayn, 10; and Lachlan, 8 as well as Lorins sister, Liskin Kruse, and Kruses daughter, Meredith. The contingent tried out an array of flimsy disposable protective glasses Monday as the moon started nibbling away.

Its very bright, yellow and glowing, Zayn said in describing the cosmic spectacle.

What do you expect? said Sterling, with attitude blending solar analysis and sibling sarcasm. Its the sun.

Lorin Matthews, a physics professor at Baylor University in Waco, and Liskin Kruse, a biochemistry professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, were drawn to Amazonia, purported population 318, for the sake of family and science. Kruse confessed to being a space wanna-be, while Matthews was bedazzled by the ability of researchers to predict the path of an eclipse with sufficient clarity to let everyone take part.

Its amazing we can predict with such accuracy the location of the sun, the earth and the moon, she said.

If only Mother Natures calibration of thick clouds and rainfall could be anticipated with surgical precision. About the same time the moon was to block out 99 percent of the sun, gray clouds descended on the hamlet of Amazonia and began spitting rain.

Among the dozen or so people parked in this speck of the eclipses hot zone, a few were lucky enough to catch a break in the clouds for split-second glimpses of the most poignant moments of totality, when only the corona of light around the sun can be visible. In this darkness, celebrants in the neighborhood shot off fireworks and firearms.

Allen and Valerie Cassavaugh, of Hopkins, Mo., were two of the visitors in Amazonia to witness the day dying and being reborn after a couple of minutes.

They plunked down lawn chairs next to their vehicle and worked on ham-and-cheese sandwiches and potato chips until the action started in a flat landscape with few trees on outskirts of St. Joseph, Mo.

The sky darkened as promised at totality, and the bizarre colors of sunset could be witnessed in several directions. Still, those clouds wouldnt cooperate.

It was worth the risk, Valerie said, since the next eclipse wont throw this much shade on the central United States until 2024.

Were 60 years old, Allen Cassavaugh said. Were not sure if well be around for the next one.

Originally posted here:
Clouds, rain can't wash fascination with solar eclipse from eyes in Missouri - Topeka Capital Journal