Solar Eclipse: It was bring your "sun" to work day at Milwaukee Public Museum



MILWAUKEE -- The Great American Solar Eclipse brought the curious to the Milwaukee Public Museum on Monday, August 1st -- and the staff vowed to deliver whether there were clouds or not.

"So it ends up being about every 18 months it hits the sweet spot," said Jessica McGillivray, planetarium educator.

Educators like McGillivray have been preparing for this day for months. They are happy to report the youngest in the audience have been the most enthusiastic.

"Some of the kids have actually been telling their parents, I've heard in the audience, see I told you it was the 21st," McGillivray said.



The Milwaukee Public Museum is home to the Daniel Soref Planetarium -- and like the entire country, the staff here was hoping for clear skies. The museum set up specially-equipped telescopes to view the first coast-to-coast eclipse in 99 years. By 10:00 a.m., the museum lobby was filling up.

"I thought that especially my four-year-old would be interested, he's interested in science and spaceships," said parent, Megan Shanley, who brought her two sons for a glimpse at the eclipse.

Sylvia Carlevato said her seven-year-old son Greg is the most excited out of her young clan.

"So if he has questions, we need to find the answers," Carlevato said.

"They are pretty excited about it even if they weren't around to see the last time we had a partial eclipse in the U.S.," McGillivray said.





The Milwaukee Public Museum was sold out of special viewing glasses weeks ago. But they did have some available for sharing.

The next solar eclipse to cross the U.S. will be in 2024.