The eclipse may have been the highlight of April 8th (sorry if your birthday landed on the day), however you may have missed the two shining stars, or better yet the two shining PLANETS that appeared during the eclipse. Venus appeared to the lower right about 15 degrees from the eclipse and Jupiter appeared about 30 degrees to the upper left of the eclipse (not visible in the image below).
What's interesting about this is that we get to see planets, even if just for a few minutes, that we wouldn't normally see during the night because their current position in the solar system only makes them visible during the day. A couple of things I noticed when viewing the eclipse. One, the photon detectors on street lamps triggered the lamp to turn on which caught me by surprise. Two, viewing the eclipse through the solar glasses was great, but viewing it with binoculars or a telescope made a world of difference! With the binoculars you could identify the sun spots and even solar flares, and more so using a telescope. I didn't except the solar flare to appear as a neon pink hue nor did I expect it to trigger such awe in me!
Lastly, one of the most rewarding experiences was seeing how this phenomenal experience caused so much awe and inspiration in everyone who viewed the event with us! Many were friends and family who joined, and It was warming to hear everyone gasp as they viewed the eclipse.
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