Thousands across Newfoundland gather to witness total solar eclipse
CBC News | Posted: April 8, 2024 3:14 PM | Last Updated: April 8
Views of the rare event were best on the south coast and in central Newfoundland
Thousands directed their attention toward the sky across Newfoundland on Monday afternoon as the anticipated solar eclipse reached totality shortly after 5 p.m. NT.
Many areas of the island were directly within the path of totality — when the moon completely covers the sun — and public events were held to share in the experience together.
In Burgeo, the day was clear and sunny, and the town marked the event with a public viewing on the government wharf.
Resident Florence Courtney said the eclipse was everything she had hoped for.
"It was great. It was amazing. I'm still in awe of it," she said, shortly after the sun began to reappear from behind the moon.
"The wind picked up a bit, the temperature got cooler. It wasn't just like a normal dusk or a normal sunset. This was different."
Caiden Warren also showed up with his friends Markus and Abigail to watch the event unfold.
"It's like a half-moon cake, like the moon cakes you get in the packages," he said.
The wharf was the perfect spot to view the eclipse, as it lies right across from Eclipse Island, said Melissa Mills, who works for the community and helped organize the event.
"There's lots of other places we could have gathered. But just here looking out over the island, we think that was the place to be," said Mills.
"We wanted everyone to be able to see Eclipse Island here. We wanted to be in that same space that they were over 300 years ago."
WATCH | Watch this timelapse from Cape Anguille on Newfoundland's southwest coast:
Eclipse Island was named by British explorer James Cook, who witnessed a total solar eclipse there in 1766 while mapping Newfoundland. He calculated its longitude based on observations he took from the event.
"Everyone who lives here knows about Eclipse Island. But looking into this history behind the island has actually been so exciting," said Mills.
"Getting people really, really excited about the history behind it has been super-cool."
In Gander, hundreds of eclipse chasers gathered for the start of the partial phase late in the afternoon.
Skies were cloudy all day but eclipse enthusiasts kept their fingers crossed — and were rewarded with a perfect view of totality at 5:13 p.m.
At Gander Collegiate, physics teacher Jason Power and his students have been preparing for this "once-in-a lifetime opportunity" for months.
They are taking part in the DEB Initiative, an international research project that engages citizen scientists across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
"It's a really great opportunity that we've been presented with here," said Power. "It's really cool."
Participants will take photos of both partial and total phases of the eclipse, which will then be used to research the solar corona, or the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere.
WATCH | Here's how the eclipse looked in Gander:
While the corona is usually hidden from view due to the strength of the solar glare, it becomes visible during total eclipses. Those photos can then also be used to study solar flares, a not-yet well-understood phenomenon.
Evan Ralph, one of the Grade 12 students at Gander Collegiate involved in the initiative, has along with his fellow students been preparing since the beginning of the year, practising setting up the telescope, tracking elements on the sky and taking pictures.
"This kind of event only happens once in a lifetime for most people. Some people don't even get to see it in their lives," said Ralph.
"It's really cool just to be able to say that that was me, I was part of such a rare event."
Hilding Neilson, an assistant professor of physics at Memorial University who travelled to Gander for the event, was also excited to witness the eclipse.
As an astronomer, he's interested in learning more about how the solar system works, which an eclipse is perfect for, he said. For the viewers in the path of totality, Jupiter and Venus, as well as stars, will be visible while it's dark — if the sky is clear.
"It's Christmas. I've been waiting for weeks for this," he said.
"Yesterday was Christmas Eve and I'm just waiting to open the presents around 5 p.m."
However, a clear view of the rare event was ruled out early in St. John's, as the day was mired by heavy clouds and snow in the capital city and surrounding region. Eclipse chasers there had to settle for scattered glimpses of the partial phases and a couple of minutes of foggy, dark sky.
Whatever the weather, Garry Dymond was ready to roll.
The amateur astronomer — and former president of the local Royal Astronomical Society of Canada chapter — was on the road Monday, ready to outrun the clouds in search of a clearer view.
This will be his fifth solar eclipse, an experience that never grows old.
"The totality is a really wonderful experience," he told CBC News.
"It's hard to describe it. But once you've seen one, you want to have more. It's a rush. You're standing up and all of a sudden you're seeing this, in the west, it looks like rain, but it's the shadow of the moon coming at you like 32,000 kilometres per second and then all of a sudden you're under darkness. All around you is a beautiful sunset, 360-degree sunset. Goosebumps."
Dymond said he's been in cow fields where the cows went into the barn. Chickens returned to their coops. Loons began to call, thinking it was night time.
"It's just wonderful. It's an eerie feeling," he said.
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.