Sydney Figueroa has been interested in astronomy since she took an astronomy class at Santa Barbara City College. Years later, she says her fascination with space hasn’t gone away.
Figueroa and her husband got to Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta at 8 a.m. Saturday to watch the annular solar eclipse. They sat on a bench, wore their eclipse glasses and had a wonderful view of the show, according to Figueroa. She watched the moon move from the bottom of the sun to the top.
Figueroa was one of many spectators on Saturday who gathered at Camino Real Marketplace to get a glimpse of the solar eclipse as it made its way southeast across the Western Hemisphere.
The public viewing party was put on by the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
The Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit is a club for amateur astronomers. It holds meetings the first Friday of every month and hosts guest speakers and presentations.
Residents could drop in anytime from 7 a.m. to noon to ask questions of astronomers, buy glasses to safely look at the eclipse and watch the eclipse through telescopes. The best viewing was from 9:23 a.m. to 9:25 a.m., when the partial eclipse was at 70%.
Saturday’s solar eclipse in a photo taken in h-alpha light showing solar prominences. (John Boyd photo) 
The solar eclipse with darkening filter as the moon kisses a sunspot on the sun. (John Boyd photo) 
Spectators could drop in at Camino Real Marketplace anytime from 7 a.m. to noon to ask questions of astronomers and buy glasses to safely look at the annular solar eclipse. (Rebecca Caraway / Noozhawk photo) 
The corn maze at Lane Farms in Santa Barbara gets a glimpse of the eclipse Saturday. (Ruth Lane photo)
While a 70% particle eclipse was the best view that residents in Santa Barbara County got, other parts of California and states such as Oregon, Nevada and Utah could see a ring of fire. In a total solar eclipse, the moon will cover the sun completely, in a partial solar eclipse, the moon will line up between the Earth and the sun, creating a bright blazing border.
Members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit brought out telescopes for residents to see the eclipse.
“Each telescope has its own view, angle and color,” Figueroa said. “You have to look through all of them.”
Hawkins Clay studies astrophysics at UCSB and said he looks at stars and space all the time but still enjoyed watching the eclipse.
“I get to see a bunch of cool stuff all the time, like planets or stars, but that doesn’t make it any less special because these are very rare events,” Clay said.
As someone studying astrophysics, Clay said he enjoys watching others take interest in science and space.
“I really appreciate it when people show interest in a natural phenomena like this or anything with space,” Clay said.
Saturday’s partial solar eclipse is a preview of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Santa Barbara County will not be in the path of totality but still will be able to view a partial eclipse with the best view at 11:10 a.m.
