Nearly 1,000 people turned out Monday for a solar eclipse viewing party held by the Westport Astronomical Society.

The event was held at the Rolnick Observatory in Westport.

Several modified telescopes were set up with solar lenses to view the eclipse without hurting spectators' eyes.

The partial eclipse started just before 1:30 p.m. Connecticut saw about 70 percent totality of the eclipse.

"It doesn't happen very often and even without it being a total eclipse, it's still really neat seeing most of the sun getting covered up by the moon," said Westport Astronomical Society Treasurer Alex Kuhn.

Event organizers said they hoped Monday's eclipse viewing introduced more people to the Westport Astronomical Society and maybe sparked a passion for science.