The peak of the total solar eclipse will last longer in some Ontario cities than others. Here's what you need to know
CTV
The total solar eclipse will take over the skies on Monday, but the time of when that starts and how long the celestial event will last will vary slightly depending on where you are viewing it from in Ontario.
The total solar eclipse will take over the skies on Monday, but the time of when that starts and how long the celestial event will last will vary slightly depending on where you are viewing it from in Ontario.
On April 8, the moon will cross the path of the sun and Earth. The partial eclipse is set to start at around 2 p.m. and end at around 4:30 p.m. in Ontario, but that time will change depending on location.
“Since the path of totality is going through southeastern Ontario, the earliest moment of totality will be in the southwestern part of Ontario at 3:12 p.m., and then by the time that it reaches the furthest part [in] southeastern Ontario, that’ll be at about 3:26 p.m.,” Daliah Bibas, researcher-programmer for astronomy and space sciences at the Ontario Science Centre, told CTV News Toronto in an interview.
Depending on where Ontarians are viewing it from, Bibas said, totality can last from under a minute to about four minutes long.
“In Toronto, totality is not going to happen,” Bibas said. “We are in 99 per cent coverage, so the peak of that though, so the highest amount of coverage we will see will also happen at 3:19 p.m.”
According to Bibas, Fort Erie is set to have the longest totality peak in the province, lasting about three minutes and 45 seconds.
Michael Reid, associate professor at the department of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto, also pointed to Niagara Falls as being the closest to the centre of totality, where the peak will last for about three minutes and 31 seconds.
