*Extremely Emotional* 2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Sherbrooke, Quebec

What is it like? It isn’t LIKE anything else. You can’t compare it. It just IS.
April 8th, 2024. I was nine years old when I first learned of this date. And it has been my dream to witness this eclipse ever since. I wasn’t going to let clouds ruin this dream. so I set off with my Dad to Bishop’s University, in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We were blessed with perfectly blue skies. We arrived 6 hours early in anticipation of excessive crowds that never came. At about 20% coverage I could notice a change in the color of the surroundings, but no one else seemed to notice until around 50%. It went from a very warm spring day to a cold one. I had to put my jacket on. Our shadows got sharper as the light became a dim gray color. But even at 99% coverage, it was obviously daytime, just much dimmer.
In the minute before totality, I watched through my eclipse glasses as the last bit of sun got smaller and smaller. I peeked under the glasses at the surrounding area which plunged into darkness. Venus appeared. Once I took off the glasses, I was in total shock as the crowd began to cheer.
There was such a round and BLACK hole where the sun had been. It was so perfectly big and round, reminiscent of a giant eye. The corona was sublime. No pictures capture how CLEAR and DEFINED it appears in real life. It was spiky. The sudden darkness was utterly terrifying. We could see stars and planets. I’m a very reserved person, but I screamed uncontrollably. My body shook and I hyperventilated. I was in total shock. The horizon was a beautiful yellow color in all directions. I began to catch my breath and look through binoculars at the corona. I spotted a pink solar flare peaking out from the bottom of the Moon. Was this really happening? I could do nothing but cry.
I tried to burn an image into my head of what was going on. All too soon, the Western horizon started to get light. The bottom of the Moon got brighter, and then we witnessed the second diamond ring effect. Bright light poured through valleys on the Moon. I had to look away after a brief moment. The sudden brightness was just as disconcerting as the plunge into darkness minutes prior. All I could do was clap in awe. Looking to the East, I saw the departing shadow headed for Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and finally Newfoundland.
Then, I looked down at the ground and witnessed shadow bands. Parallel dark lines raced across the pavement in unison. All moving to the East. This lasted for about 20 seconds.
I feel to my knees trying to process everything that had just happened. I hugged my dad. Then I realized I hadn’t been able to see the cool shadows that trees cast during eclipses, so I ran over towards a bunch of pine trees with a piece of white paper to observe the phenomenon. There were birds singing their morning song at 3:40 pm. They must have been so confused after a night that only lasted 3 minutes and 26 seconds!
Walking across the football field, I heard people saying. EGYPT 2027!! That eclipse will be the best of the century. Over 6 minutes of totality in the Sahara Desert, which has a 0 percent chance of clouds! I’m looking forward to a future of eclipse chasing!
Instagram @ryan.derrico

[@fetterstheclown1079]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who cried when watching totality,

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Same!!

[@DrR0BERT]

I was balling too. I saw it a few moments after you in Burlington, VT. There is no photo or visual representation that can replicate the experience of seeing it live. This was my second eclipse, and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen before.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

I'm so glad that you got clear weather in Vermont! We considered it, but were afraid the clouds would be there so we kept going East.

[@TEBerrigan]

Almost a week later and it's still all I can think about. Was so much more amazing than I ever imagined or could ever put into words.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Same!! I wonder when it will stop being at the top of my mind. I need to find a brand new hobby maybe.

[@Sueb18631]

@@Meanderonthemoon Become an eclipse chaser! There are people who devote themselves to going all over the world in pursuit of the total eclipse experience. There's one in Spain and Greenland in 2026.

[@TEBerrigan]

@@Sueb18631 I'm hooked, and already thinking about Spain haha

[@Sueb18631]

@@TEBerrigan Awesome!! :) Hope you can make it!

[@JoseCarberra]

We visited Sherbrooke from New Jersey (via Quebec and St Hyacinthe). I never knew such a large city existed in such a remote part of the world (at least that is what the map showed!). Watched it by the side of the river, with some French-speaking locals by the side. It was absolutely heavenly. No one can describe or photograph this phenomenon - truly a one-in-a-life experience.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

I had also never heard of Sherbrooke before and was surprised by its population! I always hear of how remote Northern New Hampshire is but this is even further North!

[@KevinSmith-tq3gm]

I love your emotion and energy. This is such a beautiful representation of how natural phenomena can move us.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

It truly was moving.

[@weefek]

I watched it from the path of totality and when it happened I got hit with so much adrenaline / whatever my hands went numb too. It was absolutely incredible.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Wow! I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one who was hit by adrenaline! It truly was shockingly incredible, even after I had known it was going to be incredible beforehand.

[@mcgrubbermd2611]

Watched the eclipse from Plattsburgh, was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen in my entire lifetime

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Same!!

[@polishedpebble4111]

2027 in Egypt with a pyramid and an eclipse in one picture would be WILD.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Totally!! I've thought about Egypt. But it seems SO hot in August!!

[@rockwithyou2006]

The pyramids are not in the path of totality

[@SarahB1863]

@@Meanderonthemoon It's also expensive if you want to travel from the states, AND more than a little dangerous. Unfortunately.

[@clarenzabalorio8570]

​@@MeanderonthemoonHow about visiting Luxor in Egypt then? I've heard that place has over 6 minutes of totality during this event.

[@FoOtFoOt542]

That was excellent footage. Really captured the moment with the crowd. There is no substitute for seeing that in real life. I’m just sad so many people had cloud cover issues.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Thank you! Yes it is so sad that people planned for this for years and got clouded out!

[@AD-hw3nk]

Goosebumps all over again. This was one of the coolest things I've experienced.

[@MuSicBlock5774]

I honestly had a pretty similar experience to yours here. I first learned about this eclipse when I was 8 years old, back in 2016. Me and my family had been waiting for this event ever since. When the sun rose at april 8th morning, I was so excited for this. We settled on a park in a city right at the center of the path of totality, in Mexico. We waited for the first contact, when it came I was so excited for when totality would arrive. So, totality arrived. I was thrilled, I was HYPERVENTILATING from the excitement... Seeing the diamond ring and the solar corona in real time was just... Surreal. Seeing how dark it was and how the shadow of the moon was above us, I don't think I can find the words to describe exactly how it was... We all were thrilled and excited in that moment, and just as quick as it arrived, it ended. I bursted out crying. I couldn't stop repeating "This is so beautiful"... While I cried, I thought that those eight years had led up only to that moment, and I honestly think it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

[@Meanderonthemoon]

OMG your story really is remarkably similar! I'm so glad you were able to see it!! I can't wait to see another one!

[@MuSicBlock5774]

@@Meanderonthemoon Same honestly :)

[@Sueb18631]

Love this, thanks!! And you're right, photos and videos just don't do the totality justice. I think there's something about it that is only able to be seen by the naked eye and doesn't translate to video or film. This is still a great video though!

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Exactly!!

[@linzhang1717]

To God be the Glory!

[@johnlilly8519]

Saw it in Missouri with my telescope. It was epic.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Wow! I wish I had seen it with magnification. I was too stunned to even grab my binoculars!

[@Mykasan]

i was in sherbrooke too! but not in that field.

[@onedollasnake]

got dark fast in Waco took 10 minutes to look like a off daylight to a decently dark nighttime totality cleared out a big clear patch that left 40+ minutes of uninterrupted sun which had totality in it

[@themagicianofsound]

I can't believe I missed this. I live in Laval just north of Montreal and I knew that it was going to be 99.97% of totality there so I though "it's gonna be the same as 100%" but at the time I didn't know that being in the totality path was such an incredible experience (I did not took the time to read about solar eclipses) and I was thinking "it's just a black spot with some light around, why people are making such a big deal, possibly just because it's rare..." so I decided to stay at my home and watching it from there but it was just less light and very dark, nothing else, even at 99.97% of totality there is no corona, no black circle and the sun remains too bright to watch it with naked eye and I was surprised of how bright 0.03% can be. I was less than 10km away from the totality corridor ! I'm regretting this every single day since and can't believe of that terrible mistake of not having taken the time to know about how incredible is a solar eclipse until this one was over ! 😥 At least your video makes me feel how intense it was, this is one of the best videos I've seen so far about the reactions of people during the eclipse. It is also incredible how much "energy" people get from the perfect alignment of the sun and the moon. It looks like something magical happens, from the reactions that I am hearing in all these videos on KZbin. I confirm that no magic at all happens at 99.97% of sun cover. It just feels weird with the different lighting but no excitement, no crying, no particular emotion. Looks like the magic needs VERY precise alignment to occur, that's incredible how precision can change everything and I can now understand that maybe there was such special power and energy with the pyramids in Egypt because of very exact and precise alignments with the poles, the sun and Orion’s belt.

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Wow I'm so sorry you didn't make the trip! Yes it totally changed the moment it got to 100.00%!! Maybe you can try to make it to another total eclipse in the future!

[@themagicianofsound]

@@Meanderonthemoon Yes but you know what I am worried about ? Social media spreads the news like never before... I am thinking that millions of travelers from all over the world will now travel to each solar eclipse and with this eclipse of April 8 2024 we added all these people from the USA and Canada who saw this phenomenon for the first time and already plan to go in Spain in 2026.... there may be no flight available and no room available anywhere close to any eclipse in the future. What do you think ?

[@solarballsfan918]

I'm At The Other Side Of World When I Watched NASA Live Stream And Never Expected From You

[@Gabo_Koopa]

I was in Mazatlán,Sinaloa i traveled from Mexico City to there

[@brezhnev89]

It was way darker than what the camera shows

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Absolutely!! At the start of totality looking East, it looked like the end of civil twilight, like 30 minutes after the sun went down. But as totality progressed it seemed to get lighter on that horizon.

[@Le_epic_eclipse]

In mazatlan is better

[@Meanderonthemoon]

Yes, it was longer in Mazatlan!

[@Gabo_Koopa]

@@Meanderonthemooni was there

[@Gabo_Koopa]

@@Meanderonthemoonhey