News Photo by Olivia Eden The moon blocks out the sun as seen from downtown Alpena on Monday afternoon. Northeast Michigan eventually saw about 90% coverage of the sun, dimming the afternoon as residents across the region looked upward through special glasses to catch a glimpse of the relatively rare phenomenon.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley A large crowd of people came out to the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan on Monday afternoon to view the solar eclipse. The museum and 105.7 The Bird hosted The Great American Eclipse Viewing Party from 2 to 4 p.m., with about 90% coverage between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m. This celestial event will not be viewable from Northeast Michigan for another 20 years. Partners from Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library and Starbase Alpena were present to educate attendees and answer questions. The Smoking Trolls provided food from their food truck in the backyard of the museum. In a total eclipse, the moon completely hides the sun for about three or four minutes. Here in Alpena, the eclipse showed the moon passing in front of the sun, but it did not completely hide it. The moon covered about 90% of the sun, so it became somewhat dark in the middle of the afternoon, but not pitch dark.