The Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Center for Cosmology hosted a Great American Eclipse viewing party on August 21, 2017, for the eclipse that traveled coast-to-coast across America. The event was estimated to draw 1,100 visitors from across Irvine and Orange County, and was the largest public event hosted by the Department of Physics & Astronomy and School of Physical Sciences since a celebration of the 1995 Nobel Prizes to Frederick Reines and Sherwood Rowland. Credit goes to the graduate students that led the organization of the event: Katy Rodriguez Wimberly and Arianna Brown.
The event was covered by the OC Register, KTLA Channel 5, NBC News, and is on Storify.