Northern Ontarians to be treated to partial view of solar eclipse

Sky watchers and fans of astronomy across Ontario are preparing themselves for a rare celestial event.

On Monday, April 8, the sun, the moon and the Earth will align perfectly to create a total solar eclipse that will be visible across parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The eclipse will follow a path along the St. Lawrence River, putting areas of southern Ontario and Quebec into the path of totality between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m.

"A solar eclipse is what happens when the moon passes in front of the sun and obscures part or all of the sun's light," said Ivan Semeniuk, science reporter for The Globe and Mail.

"At best, Canadian locations will get an eclipse that's about three and half minutes long."

The further north or west from the St. Lawrence River a person is, the less of a view of the eclipse they will have.

In northeastern Ontario, Semeniuk says people will experience a very deep partial eclipse, with about 90 per cent of the sun covered by the moon.

"During the partial phases, the sun looks like it's having a bite taken out of it, progressively deeper and deeper and deeper," explained Semeniuk.

"As the moon moves into position in front of the sun, the sun eventually becomes a narrow crescent."

At Science North in Greater Sudbury, the science centre will be hosting a viewing party and activities indoors and outdoors on Monday. The partial eclipse will be viewable in the city from about 2:00 in the afternoon, reaching its peak just before 3:30 p.m.

With only a partial viewing, the sky won't be totally dark but it will still dim enough for people to see some stars, said Olathe MacIntyre, staff scientist at Science North in Sudbury.

"So you might actually also be able to see Venus, which would just be kind of below and to the right of the Sun, and Jupiter above and to the left," said MacIntyre.

Those hoping to view the eclipse may have to contend with cloudy weather, but MacIntyre said that shouldn't stop people from trying.

"Even if it's cloudy, still take a look. You might be able to see something through the clouds with eclipse glasses, or with a telescope that has a fuller filter or a special solar telescope."

MacIntyresaid people wanting to watch the eclipse will need to wear proper solar eclipse glasses, with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 12312-2 code on the inside.

David Doherty and Carolyn Wood run the Dortwood Observatory, a private observatory in Webbwood, Ontario, not far from Greater Sudbury. They are organizing an eclipse watch party through a Facebook livestream.

"I'll be outside with two telescopes, one that will livestreaming and one that people can look through if they want with the special filter on it," said Doherty.

At the library in the nearby town of Massey, people can stop in to watch the livestream and volunteers will be on hand to teach people how to make safety glasses to view the eclipse safely.

CBC will also have full-day coverage of the eclipse on Monday. Coverage will start at 6 a.m. ET for Morning Live with Heather Hiscox on location in Niagara Falls on News Network.

A "CBC News Special: The Eclipse in Canada" will begin at 1 p.m. ET with Heather Hiscox in Niagara Falls and Andrew Nichols in Toronto. The program will feature live reports from Mexico, the U.S., southern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Coverage can also be seen and heard on CBC News Network, CBC TV, CBC Gem, and streaming live on the CBC News app, cbcnews.ca and CBC News Explore.