Planning to watch next year's total solar eclipse? Get yourself to Gander

Stellar astrophysicist Hilding Neilson says Gander is the place to be to watch the last total eclipse to hit Newfoundland and Labrador until the 2070s. Just don't look directly at it. (Troy Turner/CBC)

In a matter of months, a great darkness will descend upon Newfoundland — and Gander is already planning the party.

A total solar eclipse will move across the island on April for the first time since 1972 — and it's the last time anyone in the province will see one until the 2070s. 

The town of Gander — directly in the path of the eclipse — is already getting international attention as a good place to see the cosmic display.

Memorial University stellar astrophysicist Hilding Neilson says he's ecstatic to finally witness something that's eluded him in his career so far.

"I haven't had a chance to see a total solar eclipse yet. I've seen partials. But my colleagues say a 99.9 per cent partial is still not 100 per cent — it's 100 or nothing," said Neilson.

Every now and then

The show will start around 6 p.m., weather permitting, when the moon's orbit takes it in front of the sun.

"The sun will start getting blocked out," said Neilson. "If we get to a total solar eclipse, the whole sky will darken completely and it will get dark almost like nighttime."

Eclipses are fairly common, says Neilson, but they happen all over the world. To see his first total eclipse in his home province is special.

"This is really a once-in-a-lifetime event for most people," said Neilson.

It's still a few months away, he said, but it's already getting a lot of attention.

"Gander is going to be an interesting situation. It's been cited in international magazines like Astronomy magazine as a potential place to visit for the eclipse. But we really don't know what to expect."

The total eclipse will leave the sky as dark as night for a brief period, with only the sun's corona visible using special glasses. (Michael Goh/Centre for Radio Astronomy Research)

Nothing I can say

Gander Mayor Percy Farwell says it's still too early to talk specifics about the festivities, but the town is looking forward to a fun time at what he describes as a "science festival."

"We hope everybody that comes here [and] experiences it, they leave with something that they didn't have when they came."

Farwell says they intend to partner with Memorial University's physics department to explain to visitors what they're going to see.

Percy Farwell is the mayor of Gander. It's only in the early stages, but he hopes to put on a science festival' that can be enlightening as well fun. (Garrett Barry/CBC)

Gander has been a hot spot for international tourism in recent years due to the popularity of the blockbuster Broadway show Come from Away. Farwell says it's been a constant flow of people this year, not just to see the show but the sites associated with it as well.

Neilson is already thinking ahead about lining up events and looking for partners to help.

"I'm hoping to have events like public talks. My colleagues at Science on the Rock who deliver science talks in pubs will hopefully be participating."

It's also a great opportunity to start a lifelong hobby with astronomy.

"The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada may participate," said Neilson, "so we'll have amateur astronomers with telescopes to do night viewing or day viewing. And maybe also help people choose their first telescope if they want to do that too."

And just in case the weather doesn't co-operate, Neilson says they will be streaming the eclipse as it passes over different locations around the globe as well.

Turn around, bright eyes

But festivities aside, you shouldn't look directly at the eclipse, or into the sun ever.

"We won't look directly at the sun unless we have protective glasses like welder's glasses or eclipse viewers," said Neilson.

Many people also construct an eclipse viewer, he said, a kind of simple periscope made out of a shoebox, but then you're actually only seeing the shadow of the eclipse.

"We can construct and give out which are essentially like shaded lenses that you wear with cardboard. Kind of reminds you those old 3D glasses you get from movie theatres."

Other spots on the island are also in the path of the eclipse, starting in Port aux Basques and moving straight through central Newfoundland.

The total eclipse hits Gander on April 8.

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