BUFFALO, N.Y. -- If you live in Western New York, think of the partial solar eclipse as a prelude, a test run to April 2024, when Buffalo is directly in the path of a total solar eclipse.
That didn't damper any excitement, nor should it, of the 2017 eclipse, the first in decades. At its 2:34 p.m. peak here, the moon covered 72 percent of the sun.
More than 1,000 people came to the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium to witness the incredibly rare event. Buffalo State College gave out 500 special viewing glasses beforehand, in addition to more than 10,000 handed out over the last few weeks. Amateur astronomers also brought out the telescopes with special filters.