How to watch Saturday’s ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse as a partial eclipse in Canada

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When the moon is visible high in the sky, it usually means the sun is somewhere else. The notable exception: a solar eclipse, when the moon can be seen in silhouette taking a bite out of the sun’s disc, sometimes to spectacular effect.

On Saturday, viewers across the United States, as well as parts of Central and South America, will be treated to a particularly deep and dramatic solar eclipse whose partial phases will also be visible to varying degree in Canada. For science educators and planetariums, the event will also serve as a dress rehearsal for a long-anticipated total eclipse of the sun next spring.

Astronomers categorize this Saturday’s eclipse as “annular” rather than total because the sun will never be fully obscured, even for those directly on the centre line of the eclipse. The reason has to do with the moon’s changing distance from Earth: When the moon is at a farther that average point in its orbit, as it is this week, it is too small in the sky to cover the sun completely. Instead, the visible edge of the sun will form an unbroken ring or annulus, sometimes called the “ring of fire,” that encircles the moon’s dark disc.

Because the sun’s light is never completely blocked during an annular eclipse, many of the signature effects of a total solar eclipse – including day briefly turning to night – do not occur. Even so, an annular eclipse can be a thrilling experience, and Saturday’s event is expected to draw crowds wherever it can be seen in the U.S.

The "Ring of Fire" eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023

In some U.S. locations the sun will appear as an unbroken ring during the peak of the eclipse. In all Canadian locations the event will be a partial eclipse only

B.C.

Alta.

Sask.

Que.

N.L.

Edmonton

Man.

Vancouver

Ont.

Saskatoon

10%

Calgary

Winnipeg

N.B.

Victoria

20%

Montreal

30%

Path of annular eclipse

U.S.

Toronto

40%

Windsor

50%

60%

70%

80%

80%

70%

60%

40%

Mexico

50%

Oct. 14 partial solar eclipse for selected

Canadian cities

All times are local

Start of

eclipse

Maximum

eclipse

End of

eclipse

Sun cover

at max.

Victoria  

Vancouver  

Calgary  

Edmonton  

Saskatoon

Winnipeg

Windsor

Toronto 

Montreal

8:07 a.m.

8:09 a.m.

9:14 a.m.

9:18 a.m.

9:21 a.m.

10:29 a.m.

11:47 a.m.

11:56 a.m.

12:12 p.m.

9:19 a.m.

9:20 a.m.

10:27 a.m.

10:28 a.m.

10:33 a.m.

11:42 a.m.

1:05 p.m.

1:10 p.m.

1:18 p.m.

10:38 a.m.

10:38 a.m.

11:45 a.m.

11:44 a.m.

11:50 a.m.

1:00 p.m.

2:26 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

2:24 p.m.

~ 78%

~75%

~60%

~53%

~49%

~42%

~34%

~27%

~17%

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: “THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK 2023”, ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA; GREATAMERICANECLIPSE.COM

The "Ring of Fire" eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023

In some U.S. locations the sun will appear as an unbroken ring during the peak of the eclipse. In all Canadian locations the event will be a partial eclipse only

NWT

Nunavut

B.C.

Alta.

Sask.

Que.

N.L.

Edmonton

Man.

Vancouver

Ont.

Saskatoon

10%

Calgary

Winnipeg

N.B.

Victoria

20%

Montreal

30%

Path of annular eclipse

U.S.

Toronto

40%

Windsor

50%

60%

70%

80%

80%

70%

60%

40%

Mexico

50%

Oct. 14 partial solar eclipse for selected Canadian cities

All times are local

Start of

eclipse

Maximum

eclipse

End of

eclipse

Sun cover

at max.

Victoria  

Vancouver  

Calgary  

Edmonton  

Saskatoon

Winnipeg

Windsor

Toronto 

Montreal

8:07 a.m.

8:09 a.m.

9:14 a.m.

9:18 a.m.

9:21 a.m.

10:29 a.m.

11:47 a.m.

11:56 a.m.

12:12 p.m.

9:19 a.m.

9:20 a.m.

10:27 a.m.

10:28 a.m.

10:33 a.m.

11:42 a.m.

1:05 p.m.

1:10 p.m.

1:18 p.m.

10:38 a.m.

10:38 a.m.

11:45 a.m.

11:44 a.m.

11:50 a.m.

1:00 p.m.

2:26 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

2:24 p.m.

~ 78%

~75%

~60%

~53%

~49%

~42%

~34%

~27%

~17%

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: “THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK 2023”, ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA; GREATAMERICANECLIPSE.COM

The "Ring of Fire" eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023

In some U.S. locations the sun will appear as an unbroken ring during the peak of the eclipse. In all Canadian locations the event will be a partial eclipse only

NWT

Nunavut

B.C.

Alta.

Sask.

Que.

N.L.

Edmonton

Man.

Ont.

Saskatoon

Vancouver

10%

Calgary

Victoria

Winnipeg

N.B.

20%

Montreal

30%

U.S.

Toronto

Path of annular eclipse

40%

Windsor

50%

60%

70%

80%

80%

70%

60%

40%

Mexico

50%

Oct. 14 partial solar eclipse for selected Canadian cities

All times are local

Start of

eclipse

Maximum

eclipse

End of

eclipse

Sun cover

at max.

Victoria  

Vancouver  

Calgary  

Edmonton  

Saskatoon

Winnipeg

Windsor

Toronto 

Montreal

8:07 a.m.

8:09 a.m.

9:14 a.m.

9:18 a.m.

9:21 a.m.

10:29 a.m.

11:47 a.m.

11:56 a.m.

12:12 p.m.

9:19 a.m.

9:20 a.m.

10:27 a.m.

10:28 a.m.

10:33 a.m.

11:42 a.m.

1:05 p.m.

1:10 p.m.

1:18 p.m.

10:38 a.m.

10:38 a.m.

11:45 a.m.

11:44 a.m.

11:50 a.m.

1:00 p.m.

2:26 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

2:24 p.m.

~ 78%

~75%

~60%

~53%

~49%

~42%

~34%

~27%

~17%

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: “THE OBSERVER’S HANDBOOK 2023”, ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA; GREATAMERICANECLIPSE.COM

HOW TO SAFELY WATCH A SOLAR ECLIPSE

It is never safe to stare directly at the sun – a commonsense rule that applies during the partial phases of a solar eclipse. As long as some portion of the sun’s surface is visible, looking at a solar eclipse without appropriate protection can cause permanent eye damage due to infrared and ultraviolet rays.

• Solar eclipse viewers can be purchased from a variety of online suppliers. Use only viewers that are ISO and CE approved with the supplier clearly identified. Some viewers employ a reflective metal coating, others are made of dark plastic. Do not use old or damaged viewers, which could have reduced ability to block sunlight. A “shade 14” welding filter can also be used to view the sun safely. (Do not use a lower number.) Homemade filters, including smoked glass or doubled up sunglasses are NOT safe for viewing the sun.
• The partially eclipsed sun can also be viewed indirectly by allowing sunlight to pass through a small, neat hole, about 1-2 mm in diameter, and projecting it onto a piece of white cardstock. (Do not look through the hole at the sun!) The effect can be improved by using a pair of binoculars to project the light onto the white surface. (See below. Do not look at the sun through binoculars!)

NEVER OBSERVE THE SUN...

DIY: BINOCULOR PROJECTION

1. Set the focus knob of your binoculars to the middle of its range

2. Use binoculars to project two identical images of the sun onto a white surface about 30 cm away

3. To avoid overheating your binoculars don’t point them at the sun for more than a few minutes at a time

This eclipse will trace a path from northwest to south, carving its way along a broad band from Oregon to Texas. In those locations, the sun will be close to 90 per cent obscured. Even people who are not aware of the eclipse before hand will likely notice that there’s something weird going on with the sky. Outside of that central path, the eclipse will be partial with effects that becomes progressively more subtle with increasing distance.

In Canada, the eclipse is best seen in Southern B.C., including Victoria and Vancouver. In both cities, the sun will be more than 75 per cent covered at maximum. In contrast, Eastern Canada will see only a modest eclipse, with less than one third of the sun covered for most of Ontario, and less than 20 per cent for Quebec.

It is never safe to stare directly at the sun, so partial eclipses should only be viewed with approved protective equipment or indirectly by projecting the sun’s light through a pinhole onto a white surface. And for those who plan to view the eclipse, making preparations have the added advantage of serving as a dry run for Canada’s best total eclipse in a generation, which is on April 8, 2024 – now less than six months away.

“The great thing about Saturday’s eclipse is that it really does start to whet everybody’s appetite for the upcoming total,” said Victoria Kramkowski, co-chair of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s solar eclipse task force.

Dr. Kramkowski said that plans are under way for increased public education around next year’s event, during which a total eclipse will cut a swath across Southern Ontario, Quebec and touch a portion of all four Atlantic provinces.