‘Torreón, Torreón!’, this is how the total solar eclipse was experienced in Cerro de las Noas

This Monday, April 8, 2024, will be kept in the memory of some 28 thousand people from La Laguna and national and foreign tourists who gathered with great emotion and expectation at the Noas Sanctuary in Torreón to witness the total eclipse of the Sun. The last time a similar astronomical phenomenon was observed in Mexico was in 1991, more than three decades ago.

The cosmic spectacle lasted just over four minutes and was experienced among applause, tears and cries of euphoria, which were felt as the Moon covered the solar disk. “Torreón, Torreón!, Oh, my god!, Happy eclipse day!, It’s already dark!” were some of the phrases that gained greater strength when it suddenly darkened.

The clotheslines with hundreds of solar filters that were placed on Cerro de las Noas to observe the eclipse looked crowded. After 11:00 a.m. It was difficult to move around the esplanade where the sculpture of the Cristo de las Noas is located. The attendees were looking for a photograph, or simply the best point to appreciate the astronomical phenomenon. There were some who preferred to look for a place near the stairs, on the steps to reach the top of the Hill. They brought umbrellas, blankets, hats, welding masks, homemade sun filters, cameras, telescopes and pieces of obsidian to witness the natural phenomenon.

‘HERE IS FULL OF HAPPY PEOPLE’

Will Mayweather and María Elena Kennedy reside in Colorado, United States and for three months they have been planning their trip to the Lagunera Region. On Tuesday, April 2, they arrived in Torreón and it was at the initiative of Will, who was passionate about the study and observation of solar eclipses; This year’s is the third, before that it was in Oregon. The great friends used huge green glasses to observe the eclipse and were amazed. Will couldn’t stop smiling while María Elena enjoyed the warmth of the lagoons, of the banda music and the melody of “Amor del alma”, by Juan Gabriel, the “Divo of Juárez”. He also took the opportunity to taste a traditional Chepo snow, with a vanilla flavor. “It’s full of happy people here,” said María Elena, visibly moved.

In addition to Will and María Elena, tourists from countries such as Japan, Chile, Colombia, Belgium and Spain, among others, also arrived at Cerro de las Noas. From our country, people arrived from Jalisco, Nuevo León, Mexico City, Saltillo, Querétaro and Zacatecas, etc. The vast majority of visitors arrived at Puerto Noas by the Cable Car and a minority did so on foot, by bicycle and in private vehicles.

For the Great Mexican Eclipse 2024, as the UNAM called it, there were huge lines of people in food and beverage and souvenir businesses.

Verónica Soto Díaz, director of the Torreón Cable Car, reported that the lines were impressive and that one of the incidents that occurred was with a hydropneumatic equipment, after 10 in the morning. “My power went out, right now I don’t have water, we are already fixing it because the hydro thundered, nothing more than that. It never suspended (the service) because the emergency was put on and then a bypass was done and it would be suspended, I think 30 seconds, 20 seconds,” he highlighted. He stated that the Cable Car began operating at 5 in the morning and that Puerto Noas is expected to close its doors at midnight. He estimated that about 28 thousand people attended the astronomical festival alone, but he said that when the air transportation system closes, he expects the number of visitors to exceed 60 thousand.

Observation of the total solar eclipse at Cerro de las Noas. (ANGELICA SANDOVAL)