The moon’s shadow
In Cape Breton, partially covered sun resembled a giant Pac-Man
They may not have witnessed a total eclipse, but those who watched the moon pass in front of the sun on Monday afternoon in Cape Breton were still treated to a memorable visual experience.
While parts of the United States were geographically positioned for a total eclipse on Monday, people who watched the solar event unfold in Cape Breton were still fortunate enough to see the moon cover more than 40 per cent of the sun at the peak of the two-hour-and-nine-minute eclipse.
One of the best places to view relatively rare event was from the observatory at the Two Rivers Wildlife Park, located along the north bank of the Mira River about 10 km south of Marion Bridge.
“This is an exciting event because it is rare — it’s not that often that you get to see an eclipse, so when they do happen people get very enthused about them,” said Stan Williams, co-chair of the Cape Breton Astronomical Society, the organization that owns and operates the observatory.
For the eclipse, Williams and fellow society co-chair John Fraser set up one of the observatory’s two oversized telescopes with a lens-covering Mylar filter that allowed viewers to observe the eclipse up close without fear of damaging their eyes.
“The problem is looking at the sun — if you do not have the proper eye protection to do it then you’re going to hurt your eyes,” he said.
And, while he humbly refers to himself as an amateur astronomer, Williams was the consummate professional when it came to preparing for the eclipse.
After outfitting a Meade LX 200 EMC telescope with the Mylar filter, he then attached a camera, with more Mylar film on the lens, to the top of the scope and set it up to take a picture every 10 seconds. The photographs were then digitally transmitted to a nearby laptop.
“Look, I’ll never discover a new planet or new star — with the resources we have, everything I can see has already been seen. “But if I get a child interested in astronomy then I’m happy and all of this is worth it.”
Stan Williams
During the event, numerous people stopped by the observatory, located in the park’s campground area, to check out the eclipse.
Park employee Rosemary MacLean took a break from the canteen to look through the telescope at the partially covered sun that resembled a giant Pac-Man.
“Nifty,” she said. Visitors were also provided with specially designed “eclipse shades” that allowed for safe direct solar viewing.
Linda Lessard, of Glace Bay, was visiting the park for the day and took advantage of the opportunity to don the special glasses.
After a quick look at a sun she could only exclaim: “Wow”.
For Williams, giving others the opportunity to experience something out of the ordinary is gratifying.
“Look, I’ll never discover a new planet or new star — with the resources we have, everything I can see has already been seen,” he said.
“But if I get a child interested in astronomy then I’m happy and all of this is worth it.”
For those who missed the solar eclipse, the next such significant event to be visible from Cape Breton is scheduled for April 8, 2024. That’s a long way off, but Williams says he’s already planning to take it in.