On August 21, a solar eclipse will be visible across a huge swath of Wyoming and across the country. To mark the occasion, a new stamp was dedicated by the United States Postal Service at the University of Wyoming Art Museum Tuesday.
People from around the state and around the country came for the dedication, including Denise Delgado, a postmaster at the Glendo post office, who said she first became interested in the eclipse a few years ago.
“I actually wrote to the stamp advisory board that they consider issuing a stamp for the eclipse in 2017, and I did receive a letter from them saying it was going to be considered,” she said.
Representatives from UW, NASA, and the U.S. Postal Service all attended the ceremony, as well as the man whose photograph is used. The stamp itself features a picture of an eclipse and uses new heat-sensitive technology.
“It’s a photo of the darkened image, and then you put your thumb on it and it transfers to a full image of the moon,” Postal Service spokesman David Rupert said.
“It is absolutely gorgeous, said Lika Guthakurta, who is NASA’s lead scientist on the 2017 Eclipse and helped design the stamp. “It’s demonstrating new technology. And it is actually, for so many Americans who may not be in the path of the totality, you are bringing that eclipse close to home.”
Guthakurta said this summer will be the first time in 99 years a total eclipse will cut a path across the country.
“And you must make every effort to take yourself to the path of totality, because that is when you will be able to see the outermost sphere of the sun called the corona, and you cannot see it in any other way,” she said.
She also urged people to use caution and wear protective glasses while observing the eclipse. Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever Stamps are now available at post offices nationwide.
