On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse cast a shadow across parts of North America. This astronomical event occurs when a New Moon (when the lunar disk is not visible) passes directly in front of the sun, blocking it from view. It can also be referred to as occultation, which is when one moon or planet appears to move across the face of another.
Total solar eclipses happen two to five times a year, however, because most of the Earth is covered by water, the paths of most eclipses cannot be seen.
The path of the totality stretched from Mexico to Canada, cutting through the United States, and casting a narrow band of shadow. In New York, the moon appeared to cover 89% of the sun, and while this is still a spectacle it wasn’t enough for me. I jumped at the opportunity to fly to Montreal, Canada to view the eclipse in totality.
A 90-minute flight brought me to Montreal’s McGill University, where, according to the BBC, an estimated 20,000 people crowded in the courtyard. We arrived about 75 minutes before totality to find thousands of students, faculty and young children setting up picnic blankets and folding chairs on the muddied grass trampled on by students and destroyed by the Canadian winter. We anxiously set up our cameras and waited, hoping poor weather predictions would prove wrong.
At first contact, we apprehensively looked at the sky to see that a little black cut-out covered up the bottom right corner of the orange-red sun; There still was a while to go until totality. A while later, a woman in a bright yellow t-shirt shouted enthusiastically, “Demonstration! Demonstration! Happy Eclipse Day! Would you like to see a demonstration?” We obliged and she handed a rectangular piece of blue paper to a man standing nearby. She asked him to kneel and lifted an orange piece of memory foam with holes in it above her head, casting an image of tiny crescent shapes on the paper. She explained that these are the shadows the moon is casting as it passes over the sun and that it is a mirrored representation of the eclipse in the sky.
An hour passed and only a sliver of the sun remained visible. The sky began to dim as if someone pulled down the slider on a light switch, triggering the automatic street lights. The air temperature went cold. Like clockwork, thousands of people put on their glasses and looked up at the sky. Cheers echoed throughout the courtyard getting louder and louder as the moon slid closer to covering the entire face of the sun.
The last speck of orange disappeared and cheers rang through the quad. Everyone threw off their glasses and stared up in awe. It looked as if someone had punched a hole in the sky. The corona, the outermost part of the sun, streamed around the edges. A passerby pointed up and screamed, “Sorcery!”And as quickly as it began, it was over, and the sun came back out. The sky brightened and it got warmer. One of the most rare and dazzling natural spectacles lasted just over a minute.
This stunning display demonstrates how incredible the natural world is. Slow down, and take a minute to observe what is around you, because in a split second, it will disappear. Mark your calendars for August 2044 for the next total solar eclipse visible from the United States. Just hope it doesn’t rain!
