Astronomy buffs partner with Ambrose University for annular eclipse viewing party

A view of Saturday's annular solar eclipse shot in Edmonton on Oct. 14, 2023. (Photo: Amanda Anderson, CTV Edmonton)

Ambrose University teamed up with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) to host a viewing party of the annular solar eclipse Saturday.

About 100 people, many of them professors and students, showed up to view the unique eclipse, where the moon passes in front of the sun and blocks its light.

Saturday in Calgary, a dense fog added to the atmospheric drama as the astronomy lovers pointed their telescopes and solar-protected binoculars towards the sky.

"We only get about 60 per cent of the eclipse," said RASC media coordinator Neel Roberts, "because of the area we're in.

"Bend, Oregon is getting 100 per cent," he added.

Roberts said that the best way to think about Saturday's partial eclipse was a kind of opening act for a bigger solar event next spring.

"The total solar eclipse," he said, "which is coming April 8, 2024 to Canada.

"Starting in Mexico," he said, "going up to the U.S. and coming over the Great Lakes and sailing off to Newfoundland."

Roberts described eclipse viewing as a somewhat haphazard pastime.

"It's kind of a crapshoot," he said. "Unfortunately, most of them are in areas where people don't live – deserts, oceans – but this one is in an inhabited area."

Roberts said he brought solar glasses to the event but didn't actually need them for Saturday's viewing party, because the eclipse didn't have the corona flash, making it safe to view with a naked eye.

A second viewing party was also held Saturday at Telus Spark.