Diocese joins in total solar eclipse experience
April 8, 2024 at 4:55 p.m.
![Diocesan Chancery staff view the eclipse. Marianne Hartman photo](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2024/04/08/chancery9_t1100.jpg?31a214c4405663fd4bc7e33e8c8cedcc07d61559)
![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/Eclipse_Elizabeth.jpg)
The much anticipated total solar eclipse became a reality the afternoon of April 8 and folks around the Diocese were not about to miss it.
At the Diocesan Chancery in Lawrenceville, Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., and a number of staff were donning their shades and special eclipse glasses as they gathered on the front steps of the building to view the extraordinary celestial event.
Lori Ulrich of St. Benedict School, Holmdel, took photos of students getting ready for the eclipse in the morning and said that all grades were given class assignments on the eclipse to work on throughout the day.
![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/st%20benedict%20school5.jpg)
As soon as she got home from school, Elizabeth Italia, a senior in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, and her mom, EmmaLee Italia, contributing editor of The Monitor, were outside capturing some stunning shots of the eclipse using a special lens filter.
The eclipse started around 3:15 EST during which the moon passed between the earth and the sun, causing what was a bright, beautiful and clear spring day to become dark like dusk because the moon had completely blocked the sun.
Once the moon passed less than an hour later, the sky lightened and the sun was shining once again.
OSV News reported that the total solar eclipse was to be "visible only along a slim corridor stretching from Texas to Maine, but a partial eclipse was to be visible in other U.S. states. On average, NASA says about 375 years elapse between the appearance of two total eclipses in the same place."
OSV reported that the next visible eclipse is expected to take place in August, 2044.
![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/bishop.jpg)
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![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/Eclipse_Elizabeth.jpg)
The much anticipated total solar eclipse became a reality the afternoon of April 8 and folks around the Diocese were not about to miss it.
At the Diocesan Chancery in Lawrenceville, Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., and a number of staff were donning their shades and special eclipse glasses as they gathered on the front steps of the building to view the extraordinary celestial event.
Lori Ulrich of St. Benedict School, Holmdel, took photos of students getting ready for the eclipse in the morning and said that all grades were given class assignments on the eclipse to work on throughout the day.
![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/st%20benedict%20school5.jpg)
As soon as she got home from school, Elizabeth Italia, a senior in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, and her mom, EmmaLee Italia, contributing editor of The Monitor, were outside capturing some stunning shots of the eclipse using a special lens filter.
The eclipse started around 3:15 EST during which the moon passed between the earth and the sun, causing what was a bright, beautiful and clear spring day to become dark like dusk because the moon had completely blocked the sun.
Once the moon passed less than an hour later, the sky lightened and the sun was shining once again.
OSV News reported that the total solar eclipse was to be "visible only along a slim corridor stretching from Texas to Maine, but a partial eclipse was to be visible in other U.S. states. On average, NASA says about 375 years elapse between the appearance of two total eclipses in the same place."
OSV reported that the next visible eclipse is expected to take place in August, 2044.
![](https://trentonmonitor.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/uploads/froala_editor/images/bishop.jpg)