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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!
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