About 80 percent less sunlight shone on the Four Corners region at midday on Monday during the partial solar eclipse. About 350 eclipse-watchers gathered at the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores to feel the temperature drop and watch the sunlight dim. Renee Farias from the U.S. Forest Service helped operate a telescope with a filter to view the sun.
“You look in that telescope,” she said, “It looks like a crescent moon-- it’s actually a crescent sun.”
The Mancos Public Library also hosted about 100 eclipse-watchers, and Mesa Verde National Park set up telescopes and solar viewers for visitors.
However, the mood was different on the Navajo Nation, as Navajo tradition discourages people from being outside for the eclipse. Tribal offices were closed, and some schools on and around the reservation cancelled classes. The eclipse lasted about three hours, and the next full eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024.
