On Wednesday afternoon in Newfoundland and Labrador, residents had the opportunity to witness a partial solar eclipse, depending on the weather conditions. The partial eclipse began at 1:37 AT (2:07 NT) in Churchill Falls and gradually spread across the province. The event is expected to conclude in St. John’s at 4:37 p.m. NT, with the moon covering around 50 percent of the sun’s surface.
A watch party was organized at the Johnson Geo Centre in St. John’s, where attendees observed the moon passing in front of the sun using special safety glasses. The event, in collaboration with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and STEM Girls, took place from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Astronomer Hiding Neilson from Memorial University shared his excitement about witnessing the moon slowly engulfing the sun through his telescope, describing the experience as wonderful. Neilson highlighted the uniqueness of solar eclipses on Earth, emphasizing that they are a rare occurrence, happening only about every 50 years.
Ahead of the eclipse, Andrea van Nostrand, the Geo Centre’s lead of education and interpretation, mentioned the activities available for children to safely view the event without directly looking at the sun. She expressed that watching the eclipse was a remarkable experience, especially with the special viewing equipment.
The total solar eclipse was expected to be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and a small portion of Portugal. In anticipation of the event, mother-daughter duo Jennifer Waye and Gabriela Fuentes Waye traveled to Spain to witness the total solar eclipse, driven by the desire to experience this natural phenomenon once again.
In Canada, regions further north and east were predicted to have a more complete view of the solar eclipse, with Alert, Nunavut, expected to observe the sun being 94 percent covered.