"If you’re not inside the path of totality, you’ll be missing out on the peak of the phenomenon — you’ll be missing the show, really."
Article content
If you don’t chase solar eclipses, chances are the one that will briefly cast darkness over much of Montreal and southern Quebec on Monday will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Marc Jobin, an astronomer at the Montreal Planetarium and seasoned eclipse chaser, knows the ins and outs of the experience well, having witnessed 10 total solar eclipses around the world over the past 25 years. He described the experience as incredibly unique, triggering “something deep inside you.”
Advertisement 2
Article content
Article content
“You’re really plunged into an environment that changes around you, and it’s supernatural,” he said. “It works on very primitive behaviours.”
Montreal hasn’t seen a total solar eclipse since 1932 and won’t see another until 2205. If you’re hoping to make the most of the experience, here are some tips.
Make sure you’re in the path of totality
The path of totality is where you can see the moon block out the sun entirely, making the sky dark for a short period of time. In Montreal, the path cuts across the island. To make sure you’re not straddling the edges, travel farther south.
“It’s important, because if you’re not inside the path of totality, you’ll be missing out on the peak of the phenomenon — you’ll be missing the show, really,” Jobin said. “A partial eclipse, when you’re just outside the path of totality, be it 99.9 per cent, is not 99.9 per cent of the experience of a total eclipse. You’re very far from it. It’s like day and night, really. There’s a world of difference between the two. So it’s worth the effort to travel the extra kilometres to be inside the path of totality.”
Today's One Read
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
You can read more about the path of totality here.
There’s more to the experience than seeing the moon cover the sun
Jobin says to enjoy the entirety of the experience — not just the act of the moon blocking out the sun — because there’s actually a lot more going on.
“During totality, you’re plunged into a deep twilight. It’s not complete darkness and it’s not like you’re in the middle of the night,” he said. “The sky becomes quite dark, but not completely dark, and what you’ll see along the horizon — 360 degrees all around you — is colours of a sunset. But instead of being just where the sun sets in the west, it’s all around you.”
Here’s a list of less obvious things to pay attention to before and during totality.
Make sure your eclipse glasses are certified
Jobin warned that there’s no way to know if glasses purchased through online retailers like eBay and Amazon are real, so make sure to get them from a trusted source.
“People have been trying to secure some by different means, and that’s one problem: Some of the eclipse glasses that you can find on the inter-web … you can’t be very sure about the manufacturer and if they’re genuinely safe,” he said, adding that this issue was detected during the 2017 solar eclipse.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Whitelisted suppliers can be found at eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters.
Glasses will also be handed out for free at several events around the city, so you can pick up a pair on eclipse day.
Don’t have eclipse glasses? Make a pinhole camera
You don’t actually need eclipse glasses to experience the eclipse — you just need them if you want to watch the moon move over the sun during the partial phases. (You have to take the glasses off during totality.)
If you don’t have a pair of glasses and want to witness the partial phases, you can make a pinhole camera by poking holes through a cardboard box, or use a colander or cheese grater — anything with several small holes — to project the image onto a surface.
You can read more about eclipse glasses here.
Keep your phone in your pocket
Don’t look at your phone during the eclipse, because the brightness of the screen will affect your vision, making it difficult to adjust to the darkness when totality hits.
“Enjoy the event in real life,” said astronomer Nicolas Cowan, an associate professor at McGill University in the departments of physics and Earth and planetary sciences. “Rest assured that whatever picture you take on your iPhone … will not be as good as whatever photos that professional photographers will take. … And they will post them on the internet and you can look at them later.
Advertisement 5
Article content
“So just enjoy the show in real life rather than trying to take a picture of it.”
Beware artificial lighting
Cowan warned of street lights that use sensors rather than timers to turn on, which could ruin the view of the eclipse and the overall experience during totality.
“Know that if you’re in a big park or something, if the lampposts start lighting up, that would be bad,” he said. “So make sure they’re not in the same direction where the sun is at that time of day.”
Bring an extra layer
The temperature will drop when the moon blocks out the sun, much like it does during a sunset, Cowan explained.
“So bring an extra layer,” he said. “Have a tuque to put on or a jacket or a windbreaker or whatever … because otherwise you’ll be kind of just shivering during the fun part.”
Watch the event with a group
You can see the eclipse from anywhere, obviously, since it’s taking place in the sky — but it might be more fun to experience it with a group.
“It’s great to go out and just look up in the sky with glasses in your backyard, but it’s so much more fun to do it with people,” said Tracy Webb, an associate professor in the department of physics and the Trottier Space Institute at McGill. “It’s really a community event.”
Experts will also be on hand to answer questions at many of the events held across the city.
“You’ll have the countdowns provided to you, you’ll have information about what’s going on in the moment, in real time,” Jobin said. “You’ll benefit from extra information during the event.”
Recommended from Editorial
Best spots around Montreal to watch the total solar eclipse on April 8
All EMSB schools will be closed during April's solar eclipse
Why the April 8 solar eclipse is totally a big deal
Opinion: Solar eclipse an opportunity for collective inner reflection
How will animals react to Quebec's total solar eclipse?
Advertisement 6
Article content
Article content
https://ift.tt/zmTtHcV
Comments