CHICAGO — For a few hours on Monday, the moon passed between the Earth and the sun.
And though the eclipse in Chicago was a little less noticeable than in other places, with the moon only covering 86.6 percent of the sun from our vantage point, people flocked to get glasses and check it out.
Clouds covered most of the city sky Monday, but that didn't stop thousands of people from heading outside to take a look.
Patricia Coklow and her grandkids Brandon and Kaitlin, all of Uptown, showed up at the packed Adler Planetarium viewing party Monday. Despite the clouds, they were glad to be there.
"We're out here," Coklow said. "I wanted them to have this experience. Maybe in 50 years they'll remember their grandma took them out here."
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The eclipse started at 11:54 a.m. and peaked just before 1:20 p.m. The sun looked like a rotated crescent standing up on its points. By 2:42 p.m., the eclipse will be over, and the sky will go back to normal.
At 63rd Street Beach, more than 300 glasses to view the eclipse had already been snatched up by 11 a.m.
One man who brought 20 extra glasses to hand out said they were gone in less than a minute as more than 100 people spread out over the beach.
Shatara Mathis, a senior at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, came up to watch the eclipse with family in Chicago.
“The best is supposed to be in Carbondale, and I was trying to figure out if I could go down three hours south,” Mathis said, but she ultimately decided to stay close to home.
Many people arrived at 63rd Street Beach with cereal boxes topped with tinfoil to make a camera obscura to safely see the eclipse.
Neil Hluska was able to score a pair of glasses to watch, but said it only took him five minutes to make a camera obscura as a backup plan.
“Way back in the day, we did this in class,” Hluska said.
Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) joined other local politicians to come and watch the eclipse.
"This is a great turnout for a great event today," Hairston said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with the birds and everything."
"Can you see me? Told my boss I was sick." pic.twitter.com/t2FyGUUTio
— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) August 21, 2017
.@AdlerPlanet brought 30,000 safety glasses today. Still some left! https://t.co/Z6gYhPwBcB pic.twitter.com/oCWWz6Aeb7
— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) August 21, 2017
“The heavens show forth the glory of God” but don’t forget your glasses for the #solareclipse pic.twitter.com/Sqa45RIeAo
— Cardinal Cupich (@CardinalBCupich) August 21, 2017
She says it works https://t.co/xe4RQLrwEG pic.twitter.com/YK7AWSfaIm
— David Lee Matthews (@DavidLMatthews) August 21, 2017
