The Great 2024 North American Eclipse
For almost four years I've been making plans for that very special day, April 8 2024, fearing that clouds might spoil the show. I even considered taking a trip to the United States just to make sure I didn't miss it!
Fortunately, the weather forecast was excellent for the day, so I opted to go to Lac-Mégantic in the Eastern Townships to cover the event, and even broadcast it live on Facebook and YouTube.
It was really strange to see the moon's shadow coming from the southwest, it looked like a dark wall swallowing the sky as it advanced towards us, a very different effect from a simple cloud passing, or nightfall...
When the eclipse went total, we removed our protective glasses to admire the spectacle and the crowd erupted with awe. The wind died down, and the temperature dropped.
The experience was simply incredible!
I still can't believe the feeling we had during the total phase of the eclipse.
It was as if we were in the presence of an angelic entity hovering above our heads, with enormous white translucent wings, shiny pink pearls sparkling around, and a face invisible to us, mere mortals unworthy of looking at it directly...
Another photo of the total eclipse, this time with a darker setting to better see the small pinkish spots on the edge, which became increasingly visible just before the sun reappeared. These are solar prominences, enormous arches of superheated plasma rising thousands of kilometers above the sun's surface.
Here's the live stream replay of that incredible event!