‘Something we can share apart’ in Canada.
The path of annularity in Canada will travel through many places that would have been complicated to visit in normal times. Covid-19 restrictions make that even more difficult, and large groups are not advised to travel and gather in Ontario and Québec.
“We’re just encouraging people to safely view it as individuals and in their social bubbles,” and to remain at home or in a safe place, said Mike Reid, public outreach coordinator for the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto.
While these requirements are a stark contrast to the situation in 2017, when huge crowds gathered across North America to watch the total solar eclipse, Dr. Reid said there was a silver lining: The pandemic prompted the institute and colleagues at Discover the Universe, an astronomy training program based in Quebec, to ship 20,000 eclipse viewers to people in and around the eclipse’s path, including in Nunavut, a Canadian territory whose population is primarily Inuit.
“Because they are in quite remote locations, we wanted to make sure they would have the material to observe it,” said Julie Bolduc-Duval, executive director of Discover the Universe.
Dr. Reid added, “We’re in circumstances, in this pandemic, where everyone is forced to stay at home, but it actually helped bring everyone together on this one particular thing.”
Sudbury, Ontario, is outside the path of annularity but will still experience an 85 percent eclipse of the sun. Olathe MacIntyre, staff scientist at Space Place and the Planetarium at Science North, a museum there, plans to contribute to a livestream of the eclipse on Thursday.
“It’s something we can share apart,” Dr. MacIntyre said.
— Becky Ferreira
Preparing for the eclipse in Greenland and Russia.
Pat Smith works in Greenland for Polar Field Services, a company contracted by the National Science Foundation that helps scientists and others plan expeditions in remote parts of the Arctic. Mr. Smith plans to view the eclipse at a site near Thule Air Base, the northernmost American military base, which is about 700 miles from the Arctic Circle.
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