On Monday, April 8, Torontonians will experience a near-solar eclipse when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow upon the Earth.
Toronto will be about 7 km outside what is called the path of totality, which means that at the eclipse’s peak, more than 99% of the Sun’s light will be obscured. Niagara Falls, on the other hand, will be one of the best places in Canada to view the eclipse. The city is in the path of totality, so the moon will entirely block the sun’s rays for a few minutes.
While Toronto’s 99% totality is still very impressive, many are noting that the difference between a partial eclipse and a total eclipse will be like “night and day.”
As one Reddit user noted: “Toronto is getting 99% coverage, and I’ve seen a ton of comments saying ‘99% is good enough basically the same thing’. Toronto getting 99% coverage is a VERY different thing from the areas getting 100% totality. Think how chimps and humans share 99% of their DNA, that 1% makes such a big difference that they are two different things,” the user noted.
Another user noted that it will get darker for a few minutes, like a fairly stormy day.
“As always, the sun will be way too bright to look at directly at all. Using solar eclipse glasses you will be able to see the significant coverage of the sun by the moon. At the peak there will be only a sliver of sun visible. But the sun is so bright that this isn’t enough to make it nearly as dark as what you get during totality,” adding that this year’s near-eclipse will be much more noticeable than the August 2017 partial solar eclipse, but it still won’t be “the same thing at all as totality”.
The path of totality for the April 8/24 solar eclipse covers a lot of the GO Lakeshore West line.
Toronto will be just outside of totality, with approximately 99.9% coverage of the sun. Totality in Burlington & Hamilton will be a little more than 1 min vs 3 min in Niagara Falls. pic.twitter.com/5XcAeMzemY
— Moaz Ahmad (@yyzMYA) January 11, 2024
Another major difference between the two—during a partial eclipse, you’re not supposed to gaze directly at the sun without proper eclipse glasses, or you may risk permanently damaging your eyes. During the few minutes of a total eclipse—for those lucky enough to be in the path of totality—you could briefly remove your eclipse glasses to view the solar corona.
In Niagara, the eclipse starts at 2:04 p.m. and ends at 4:32 p.m. At 3:18 p.m., the moon will cover 100% of the sun.
In Toronto, the near-total solar eclipse will take place between 2:04 and 4:31 p.m., with the peak at 3:19 p.m. Click here for the best places to view the solar eclipse across Toronto and here for some of the best solar eclipse watch parties in and around the city. If you like Pinot Noir with your celestial event, check out these Ontario wineries that are hosting total eclipse parties.