Thousands gather to watch the eclipse in totality
IDABEL, OKLA (KFOR) - It’s a big day! The total solar eclipse passed through the United States today with parts of totality in southeast Oklahoma. Some families even traveled from out of state just to catch the fun event.
"We had to drive two nine hour days and then we just had to do a five hour drive from Texas," said the Walsh family who traveled from California.
Thousands made the trek to see the moon pass in front of the sun.
Some people said it wasn't their first time seeing it either.
"We went to the 2017 eclipse that was just a great experience," said Spencer Jueschke who traveled from Utah.
"My wife asked me to come to this in 2017. I said are you crazy? But then I said wow, after you see it once, you just…you’re hooked," said Irvin Murphy who traveled from Denmark.
Families from across the world grabbed their snacks and pets to watch the once in a lifetime event.
"I’ve only experienced one other eclipse when I was in in Paris in an airplane and everything went dark. We said what’s happening, what’s happening and someone said it’s an eclipse," said Stewart Wilcox who traveled from England.
"I have friends in Denmark who say I’m crazy. You travel all the way to America for four days for just, you know, see a solar eclipse….haha yup," said Murphy.
In Idabel, a 4 minute patch of totality could be seen and even the most curious minds were excited to see what would happen.
“A lot of people don’t understand the kind of euphoria of this event. It’s worth it, it’s worth the 4 minutes," said Larry Pace who traveled from Colorado.
"Maybe we can see some coronal mass ejections, because during a solar eclipse you can see the sun’s corona," Luke Jueschke who traveled from Utah.
It was a moment where time stopped in the middle of the day.
“I'm going to look at things around and see how those change. The sun, the surroundings," said a student from Le Monde International in Norman.
"The astronomical phenomenon's that occur are always very cool to watch," said Alexis Luersen who traveled from Texas.
In the end though, it was all about the exciting moment that won't happen in the U.S. for another 20 years.
The next total solar eclipse that will be seen in central Oklahoma is in 2045.