![\"Closeup](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/BarakShoshanyRS-1050x1050.jpg\")
Barak Shoshany, Brock University Assistant Professor of Physics and member of the Ontario Eclipse Task Force.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAs the Earth rotates, and as the moon moves around the Earth, the shadow of the moon traces a path over the planet,\u201d Shoshany said. \u201cIf you happen to be inside the shadow of the moon, you will see an eclipse. If you\u2019re right in the middle of it, along the \u2018path of totality,\u2019 you will see a total eclipse.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Catharines will experience a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, from 3:18:15 p.m. to 3:21:30 p.m. The maximum eclipse, when the moon is closest to the centre of the sun, will take place at 3:19:53 p.m.<\/p>\n
According to an online eclipse map<\/a>, the total eclipse can be observed in Ontario only within a narrow band along the U.S. border, all the way up to Hamilton, Brantford and Burlington. Kingsville will be one of the most western and earliest points to see the total eclipse, starting at 3:13:42 p.m. and lasting until 3:15:28 p.m. As the moon moves along its orbit, the path of totality will move north and east.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery second counts when it comes to observing the eclipse,\u201d Shoshany said. \u201cThree minutes of totality is a short window to cherish this rare, breathtaking view. Mark your calendars now and plan to be in Niagara on April 8. You don\u2019t want to miss this.\u201d<\/p>\n While Shoshany has seen partial eclipses, he has never seen a total solar eclipse and is excited to witness one for the first time. As a theoretical physicist and teacher of astronomy, he is particularly interested in eclipses because of the role the total solar eclipse of 1919 played in confirming Albert Einstein’s then four-year-old theory of general relativity.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to Einstein\u2019s theory, massive objects cause spacetime to bend and curve. We interpret this curvature as gravity, because it deflects the path of objects passing through space toward the massive object,\u201d he said. \u201cLight also gets deflected in the same way, so Einstein predicted that stars will appear to change their position when their light passes near the sun.”<\/p>\n Normally, the brightness of the sun makes it impossible to see the stars in the daytime, but with a total solar eclipse, stars can be seen near the sun with a telescope.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo expeditions of astronomers, organized by Dyson and Eddington, were able to photograph the stars near the sun and concluded that they had indeed been deflected by the curvature of spacetime,\u201d Shoshany said. “This amazing discovery appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world and made Einstein and his theory famous.”<\/p>\n To observe the 2024 eclipse safely, Shoshany recommends wearing certified eclipse glasses (and buying through a verified distributor<\/a> in advance) or projecting the image on a white piece of paper using a pinhole projector<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing these methods, it should be 100 per cent safe to watch the entire eclipse,\u201d he said. \u201cDuring the precious few minutes of totality itself, when the moon completely covers the sun, it is safe to watch the eclipse directly, but care must be taken to return to safe viewing methods as soon as totality ends.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage. During the solar eclipse, the sun will be much less bright than usual, but still just as dangerous. Looking at the sun through sunglasses, binoculars, telescopes or optical camera viewfinders is also dangerous, unless they are covered with professional solar filters.<\/p>\n In the coming months, Shoshany and his colleagues with the Ontario Eclipse Task Force will be offering more information about the eclipse, including tips for watching and details on related community events.<\/p>\n The path of totality in Canada for the solar eclipse happening Monday, April 8, 2024.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The one-year countdown is on until people in Niagara can experience a rare astronomical phenomenon that for many happens only once in a lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":84797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,7484,3319,41,1],"tags":[12581,11042,13282,348,81,12582,12583],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84793"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84804,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84793\/revisions\/84804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/path-of-totality.jpg\")