Eclipse A North Lake Event, Too

    The Umatilla Public Library was a busy place on Monday afternoon, as a large crowd gathered to take in the much-anticipated solar eclipse. Clear skies made for easy viewing through special glasses, as around 3 p.m. the eclipse reached its peak. At that time, the moon covered the sun by about 1/2.
   Other parts of the country were to experience a full eclipse.
   In Umatilla, the library welcomed dozens of eclipse watchers of all ages, with library director Amy Stultz overseeing a brief tutorial on how to safely observe the eclipse through special glasses provided by the library.
   Lake County experienced darkening conditions leading up to 3 p.m., similar to a very high cloud cover that covered the entire area. By 3:30 p.m., conditions had returned to mostly normal.
   Monday's event was the first total solar eclipse in the United States since 2017.
   A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon, and earth are aligned, with the moon casting a shadow onto the earth. Solar eclipses only occur during a new moon, but not at every new moon. Rather, certain instances must be in place, involving the earth and moon's rotation in concert with moon phases and positioning in relation to the sun.     On Monday, the entire continental United States saw at least a partial eclipse, with a band across the central section of the nation roughly from Texas to Maine experiencing a total eclipse. For people in those regions, the total eclipse was to last just under 4 minutes, and 30 seconds.