New Brunswickers get glimpse of partial solar eclipse
CBC
There may have been clouds blocking the sky on Saturday, but New Brunswick astronomer Robert Derrah said seeing the partial eclipse even for just for 30 seconds was worth it.
"You see it and it makes you want to come back for more," he said.
A small crowd of people were at Irving Nature Park in Saint John on Saturday, hoping for a chance to see the moon partially cover the sun.
The Saint John Astronomy Club, which has been operating since the 1980s, hosted the event, armed with eclipse safety glasses and telescopes not usually available to the public.
Due to heavy cloud cover, Derrah said people had to scramble when the partial eclipse became visible. It disappeared after less than a minute.
When there aren't any clouds, the club has seen as many as 500 people come out to an eclipse event. This year, though, has been rough with more rain and cloud cover than usual.
Curt Nason, a member of the astronomy club, is hoping that streak of bad luck will go away before next April, when New Brunswickers should be able to witness a full solar eclipse. He's never seen one, and next spring might be his only chance.
In the meantime, Nason said helping the public see stars and planets never gets old.
"As amateur astronomers, quite often sharing the sky is the best part of the hobby," he said.
"You never get tired of hearing the wows when people look through and see Saturn or the moon for the first time in a telescope."