Valley residents come together for the 'Great American Solar Eclipse'

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Hundreds spent the morning crowding the lawn at Mesa Community College, bringing their own devices or waiting in line to see the fancier ones, for an educational opportunity to see the partial eclipse for themselves.

"They got really excited after they made their pinhole viewers," Karen Sanders said. "We checked it out and they could see the sun, so they got excited to see what it's going to look like."

Many were in awe as they watched the moon slowly travel over the sun.

"When you look through the glasses, you see like an upside down crescent," one person said.

It was a sight even the adults appreciated miles away all over downtown Phoenix.

"Looks like a crescent moon," another person said. "It reminds me of the Cheshire cat smiling."

The time to see it in the Valley? Around 10:30 a.m. when more than half of the sun was covered.

"It like unites us... we're all seeing the same thing and it's really exciting," one person said.

The view was much darker in states with a total eclipse, but almost every American got some sort of celestial show.

Here in Phoenix and in Mesa, even a partial eclipse was a sight to see, and the next time we'll all get our glasses will be in April of 2045.