Thousands across Newfoundland gather to witness total solar eclipse

Thousands directed their attention toward the sky across Newfoundland on Monday afternoon as the anticipated solar eclipse reached totality shortly after 5 p.m. NT.

Many areas of the island were directly within the path of totality when the moon completely covers the sun and public events were held to share in the experience together.

InBurgeo, the day wasclear and sunny, and the town markedthe event with a public viewing on the government wharf.

Resident Florence Courtneysaidthe eclipse was everything she had hoped for.

"It was great. It was amazing. I'm still in awe of it," she said, shortly after the sun began to reappear from behind the moon.

"The wind picked up a bit, the temperature got cooler. It wasn't just like a normal dusk or a normal sunset. This was different."

Caiden Warren also showed up with his friends Markus and Abigail to watch the event unfold.

"It's like a half-moon cake, like themoon cakesyou get in the packages," he said.

The wharf was the perfect spot to view the eclipse, as it lies right across from Eclipse Island, said Melissa Mills, who works for the community and helped organize the event.

"There's lots of other places we could have gathered. But just here looking out over the island, we think that was the place to be," said Mills.

"We wanted everyone to be able to see Eclipse Island here. We wanted to be in that same space that they were over 300 years ago."

WATCH | Watch this timelapse from Cape Anguille on Newfoundland's southwest coast:

Eclipse creates spectacular colours on Newfoundlands southwest coast

6 months ago

Duration 0:27

While the solar eclipse is known for darkness, the sky in Codroy Valley was lit up with spectacular colours on Monday evening. The CBCs Mike Rossiter captured this timelapse video from the lighthouse at Cape Anguille, the most westerly point in Newfoundland.

Eclipse Island was named by British explorer James Cook, who witnessed a total solar eclipse there in 1766while mapping Newfoundland. He calculated its longitude based onobservations he took from the event.

"Everyone who lives here knows about Eclipse Island. But looking into this history behind the island has actually been so exciting," said Mills.

"Getting people really, really excited about the history behind it has been super-cool."

In Gander, hundreds of eclipse chasers gatheredfor the start of the partial phase late in the afternoon.

Skies werecloudy all day buteclipse enthusiasts kept their fingers crossed and were rewarded with a perfect view of totality at 5:13 p.m.

At Gander Collegiate, physics teacher Jason Power and his students havebeen preparing for this "once-in-a lifetimeopportunity" for months.

They are taking part in the DEB Initiative, an international researchproject that engages citizen scientists acrossCanada, the U.S. and Mexico.

"It's a really great opportunity that we've been presented with here," said Power. "It's really cool."

Participantswill take photos of both partial and total phases of the eclipse, which will then be used to research the solar corona, or the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere.

WATCH | Here's how the eclipse looked in Gander:

Thats a wrap, Gander! Solar eclipse prep started a year ago and the payoff came Monday

6 months ago

Duration 0:44

Gander started gaining international attention for the solar eclipse months ago. It was one of the popular destinations to view this solar eclipse (with proper safety glasses, of course). We've pointed our (properly protected) camera directly at the eclipse and sped up the video, so you can see the highlights from Gander.

While the corona is usually hidden from view due to the strength of the solar glare, it becomes visible during total eclipses. Those photos can then also be used to study solar flares, a not-yet well-understood phenomenon.

Evan Ralph, one of the Grade 12 students at Gander Collegiate involved in the initiative, has along with his fellow students been preparing since the beginning of the year, practising setting up the telescope, tracking elements on the sky and taking pictures.

"This kind of event only happens once in a lifetime for most people. Some people don't even get to see it in their lives," said Ralph.

"It's really cool just to be able to say that that was me,I was part of such a rare event."

Hilding Neilson, an assistant professor of physics at Memorial University who travelled to Gander for the event, was also excited to witness the eclipse.

As an astronomer, he's interested in learning more about how the solar system works, which an eclipse is perfect for, he said. For theviewers in the path of totality, Jupiter and Venus, as well as stars, will be visible while it's dark if the sky isclear.

"It's Christmas. I've been waiting for weeks for this," he said.

"Yesterday was Christmas Eve and I'm just waiting to open the presents around 5 p.m."

However, a clear view of the rare event wasruled out early in St. John's, asthe day wasmired by heavy clouds and snow in the capital city and surrounding region. Eclipse chasers there had to settle forscattered glimpses of the partial phases and a couple of minutes of foggy, dark sky.

Whatever the weather, Garry Dymondwas ready to roll.

The amateur astronomer and former president of the local Royal Astronomical Society of Canada chapter was on the road Monday, ready to outrun the clouds in search of a clearer view.

This will be his fifth solar eclipse, an experience that never grows old.

"The totality is a really wonderful experience," he told CBCNews.

"It's hard to describe it. Butonce you've seen one, you want to have more. It's a rush. You're standing up and all of a sudden you're seeing this, in the west, it looks like rain, but it's the shadow of the moon coming at you like 32,000 kilometres per second and then all of a sudden you're under darkness. All around you is a beautiful sunset,360-degreesunset. Goosebumps."

Dymond said he's been in cow fields where the cows went into the barn. Chickens returned to their coops. Loons began to call, thinking it was night time.

"It's just wonderful. It's an eerie feeling," he said.

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