Total solar eclipse viewing tips from Montreal astronomers – Montreal Gazette Achi-News

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If you don’t chase solar eclipses, the one that will briefly darken much of Montreal and southern Quebec on Monday will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Marc Jobin, an astronomer at the Montreal Planetarium and a seasoned eclipse chaser, is well-versed in the ins and outs of the experience, having witnessed a total of 10 solar eclipses around the world over the past 25 years. He described the experience as extremely unique, triggering “something deep inside you.”

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“You’re really plunged into an environment that changes around you, and it’s supernatural,” he said. “It works on very primitive behaviors.”

Montreal hasn’t seen a total solar eclipse since 1932 and won’t see another until 2205. If you’re hoping to make the most of the experience, here are some tips.

Make sure you are in the path of integrity

The path of totality is where you can see the moon block the sun completely, making the sky dark for a short time. In Montreal, the route cuts across the island. To make sure you don’t cross the edges, travel further south.

“It’s important, because if you’re not inside the path of totality, you’ll miss out on the peak of the phenomenon—you’ll miss the show, really,” Jobin said. “A partial eclipse, when you’re just outside the path of totality, whether it’s 99.9 percent, is not 99.9 percent of the experience of a total eclipse. You are very far from her. It’s like night and day, really. There is a world of difference between the two. So it’s worth the effort to travel the extra kilometers to be inside the path of totality.”

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You can read more about the path of wholeness here.

There is more to the experience than seeing the moon covering the sun

Jobin says he enjoys the whole experience – not just the act of the moon blocking out the sun – because there’s actually a lot more going on.

“During totality, you are plunged into deep twilight. It’s not pitch black and it’s not like you’re in the middle of the night,” he said. “The sky is getting quite dark, but not completely dark, and what you see along the horizon — 360 degrees all around you — are the colors of the sunset. But instead of being exactly where the sun sets in the west, it’s all around you.”

Here’s a list of less obvious things to look out for before and during totality.

Make sure your eclipse glasses are certified

Jobin cautioned that there’s no way to know if glasses bought through online retailers like eBay and Amazon are real, so be sure to get them from a reliable source.

“People have been trying to secure some through different means, and that’s one problem: Some of the eclipse glasses you can find on the web … you can’t really be sure about the manufacturer and if are they really safe,” he said, adding that this issue was detected during the 2017 solar eclipse.

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Whitelisted suppliers can be found at eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters.

Glasses will also be given out for free at several events around the city, so you can pick up a pair on eclipse day.

No eclipse glasses? Make a pinhole camera

You don’t actually need eclipse glasses to experience the eclipse – all you need is if you want to watch the moon move over the sun during the partial phases. (You have to remove the glasses completely.)

If you don’t have a pair of glasses and want to see the partial phases, you can make a pinhole camera by poking holes through a cardboard box, or use a colander or cheese grater – anything with several small holes – to project the image onto a surface.

You can read more about eclipse glasses here.

Keep your phone in your pocket

Don’t look at your phone during the eclipse, as the brightness of the screen will affect your vision, making it difficult to adjust to the darkness when totality hits.

“Enjoy the event in real life,” said astronomer Nicolas Cowan, an associate professor at McGill University in the departments of physics and earth and planetary sciences. “Rest assured that whatever photo you take on your iPhone … will not be as good as whatever photos professional photographers take. … And they will post them on the internet and you can look at them later.

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“So enjoy the show in real life rather than trying to photograph it.”

Be careful of artificial lighting

Cowan warned of street lights that use sensors rather than timers to turn them on, which could spoil the eclipse scene and the overall experience as a whole.

“Knowing if you’re in a big park or something, if the lampposts start lighting up, that would be bad,” he said. “So make sure they’re not facing the same direction as the sun at that time of day.”

Bring an extra layer

The temperature will drop when the moon blocks out the sun, much like a sunset, Cowan explained.

“So bring an extra layer,” he said. “Put on a duke or a jacket or a wind breaker or whatever … because otherwise you’ll be shivering during the fun part.”

Watch the event with a group

You can see the eclipse from anywhere, obviously, as it happens in the sky – but it might be more fun to experience it with a group.

“It’s great to go outside and look up at the sky with glasses in your backyard, but it’s a lot more fun to do it with people,” said Tracy Webb, associate professor in the physics department and Space Institute. Trottier at McGill. “It’s really a community event.”

Experts will also be on hand to answer questions at many of the events held across the city.

“The countdown will be provided to you, you will have information about what is happening right now, in real time,” Jobin said. “You will benefit from additional information during the event.”

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