It was a clear day when Louis Tomososki’s science teacher mentioned that a partial solar eclipse would be visible from their hometown of Portland, Oregon, that afternoon. So after classes let out, Tomososki, then 16, found Roger Duvall, his friend since the fourth grade and a fellow science buff. The pair ambled up the steps to their high school’s baseball field and planted themselves about 10 feet behind third base. They stood and waited, squinting toward the sky.