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Eclipse starts 9:08 a.m., maximum 10:20 a.m.; wear protective glasses

The solar eclipse moving across North America on Monday will be about 90 per cent complete for Victoria viewers — enough to see the sun reduced to a narrow crescent.

The solar eclipse moving across North America on Monday will be about 90 per cent complete for Victoria viewers — enough to see the sun reduced to a narrow crescent.

“We’re lucky, we have the largest fraction of the eclipse anywhere in Canada,” said Dennis Crabtree, director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory on Little Saanich Mountain.

The total eclipse, where the sun is briefly blacked out, will be confined to the “path of totality” — an area about 113 kilometres wide that runs from the West Coast to the East Coast in the United States. The last time that happened in North America was in 1979.

Oregon provides the nearest vantage point to see the total solar eclipse, something that has sent a large group of locals south for the occasion.

A total solar eclipse is the result of the moon lining up between the Earth and the sun, causing the moon’s shadow to darken the Earth while the moon itself blocks the sun. Anyone who has seen a total solar eclipse knows what an amazing phenomenon it is, said University of Victoria astronomy professor Sara Ellison.

She and her husband, Jon Willis — also a UVic astronomy professor — are in Oregon to take in the full effect of the event.

“It’s a very primordial experience for it to suddenly go dark in the middle of the day,” said Ellison, who previously saw a total solar eclipse in 1999 from the Channel Islands. “You can really have a sense of why in ancient cultures this felt like a sign from the gods, because it is such a bizarre sensation.

“The birds stop singing and flowers close up.”

There will be visible changes during Victoria’s partial eclipse, as well, said Crabtree. It will start at 9:08 a.m., come to its maximum effect at 10:20 a.m. and end at 11:38 a.m.

“People will notice it getting darker, the light will take on a different character — assuming it’s sunny, of course,” said Crabtree, who has also ventured to Oregon. “They’ll know something’s going on.”

But a total solar eclipse is something else altogether, he said.

“A great comparison of seeing a 90 per cent versus a total eclipse is like seeing a lightning bug versus lightning.”

The chance to see even a partial solar eclipse doesn’t happen often, Ellison said.

“What’s really a drawing card is that it’s a very rare event that you have one of these happening on your doorstep,” she said. “There is a total solar eclipse somewhere in the world approximately once a year, but the path of totality is very narrow so you have to get really lucky for it to be within some type of reasonable travel distance.”

For some, distance is not an issue. Ken Mallory, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Victoria chapter, said a few “eclipse chasers” within the group have travelled around the world to see numerous total solar eclipses.

“They were in Indonesia a few years ago, Australia not too long ago, South Africa,” Mallory said. “If you’ve got the bucks, it’s really fulfilling to do.”

Depending on where you are within the path of totality, the time that the total solar eclipse is visible could be as much as two minutes, 40 seconds, Crabtree said.

Eye safety is vital for anyone wanting to see the eclipse, in any form, Ellison said. Even the dark period can cause problems, she said.

“When you think that [the sun] is close to being covered, it’s still a very powerful source of radiation.”

Ellison said she will be wearing safety glasses the entire time.

“The moon is going to move away and suddenly you’ll get this bright flash of sunlight coming around the edge again.”

She said that the low-cost cardboard safety glasses she will use, something like old 3D-movie glasses, have been available at various stores, but seem to be largely sold out.

Crabtree said people wouldn’t think of staring at the sun under normal circumstances, so it’s not something they should do on this occasion.

“Because of this event, there’s the temptation, there’s a desire to look at it and to stare at it, but that could be very dangerous.”

Eclipse watchers will not be able to do their viewing at the observatory, Crabtree said. Not only would the logistics of getting a large number of people up the mountain to the facility be difficult, but there are simply no telescopes available for the public to look through.

“Nothing is happening up here,” he said. “It’s a work day for us.”

A commissionaire will be in place to let the public know there is no access.

The Victoria area’s next encounter with a solar eclipse will be April 8, 2024.

 

Accommodation near eclipse path not easy to find 

University of Victoria astronomy professor Sara Ellison likened finding accommodation near Monday’s total solar eclipse to trying to buy seats for a big concert.

A chance to see the event has meant a trip to Oregon, which is in the “path of totality” that provides a complete eclipse view.

Making an effort well ahead of time didn’t help.

“A year in advance, we looked at hotels and pretty much everything was booked,” said Ellison, who is in Oregon with her husband, fellow UVic astronomy professor Jon Willis.

The solution was to find a campsite, but that wasn’t much easier.

“It was like getting concert tickets,” Ellison said. “My husband picked out which site we wanted, had all the credit-card information, entered it and was hitting refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh.”

His persistence got a reservation for one of 150 sites at the campground.

“They were all sold out within three minutes,” Ellison said. 

 

Ferry trip to offer a unique vantage point for event

Clayton Uyeda and his wife will be enjoying Monday’s solar eclipse on a B.C. Ferries vessel.

Uyeda, one of two teachers who will be leading a new astronomy course in September at Victoria High School, thought a shipboard vantage point could minimize any lingering haze from Interior wildfires.

“I thought: ‘We know exactly when it is, so why not just book a ferry to observe it?’ ” he said. “Even if there is no smoke, I think it would be a beautiful environment with the water.

“Maybe you could see the eclipse reflected in the water, as well.”

Uyeda is looking forward to the experience during the trip from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.

“We’ll just go out on the deck and bring out our glasses,” he said.

Specially made cardboard safety glasses are one of the ways the eclipse can be viewed without endangering eyesight.

“We’ll have the water and the islands and the eclipse,” Uyeda said.

He said he and colleague Jonathan Geehan have been inspired by the upcoming solar eclipse to consider filters for the school’s telescopes — to allow for safe observation of the sun at all times.

Uyeda said astronomical events in August seem to be positive signs for the new high-school course. Not only is the solar eclipse happening Monday, but the Pleiades meteor shower put on a show this month, he said.

“It is as if the heavens approve and are welcoming Astronomy 11 with a fanfare.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com