For me, what happens in space is in the abstract. It's impossible to relate to the movement of sun, moon and the stars. But during a total solar eclipse on August 21, standing at a point in Southern Illinois where totality lasted longer than anyplace else in the U.S. (granted, by milliseconds), it was no longer an abstract concept. Watching the moon slowly slip across the face of the sun, in perfect alignment, and cast the world around me into the dim light of totality, was magical.