A rare total solar eclipse is two weeks away. This local astronomer tells Londoners how to prepare

On April 8, London residents may be able to witness something astronomers are calling a 'once-in-a-lifetime' event, when the moon's shadow falls on the surface of the Earth and makes its way over southern Ontario. 

Many people have likely experienced a partial solar eclipse, which can look like something has taken a bite out of the sun. Opportunities to view a total solar eclipse are rare because they're typically only visible from a very small fraction of the Earth's surface. The average for any one spot on Earth to see a total solar eclipse is about once every 375 years.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking out its light. The path of that shadow is extremely narrow, and in this case stretches from southern to eastern Ontario, through to Quebec and into New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Newfoundland. 

CBC London spoke with Peter Jedicke from the local chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada on how to best prepare for the celestial spectacle. Some of the interview below has been edited for clarity. 

Q: What's so exciting about this eclipse? 

A: Eclipses are probably the single most impressive, stunning event you will ever witness in nature. You feel like your heart's being ripped right out and poured into this hole in the sky. It's really quite amazing. 

Q: What does it look or feel like?

A: It's a really complicated thing. There's a lot going on. You get darkness that increases in the daytime, of course, over the span of an hour or so, and then in just a few seconds it gets quite dark. Not quite as dark as night, but almost. And that lasts for a couple minutes if you're lucky enough to be in the path of the total solar eclipse, which London is not.

Q: Let's get into that. Can we put ourselves in the path if we live in the area?

A: Yes. My advice is, depending on your level of interest and how much you're willing to go through for this, get yourself south of the line. The edge of the eclipse falls between St. Thomas and London, basically. So if on the morning of April 8, the weather forecast looks favourable, go down to the lake shore. The total eclipse lasts a little longer the further east you are. So if you have the chance, go to Port Burwell or even further, maybe Port Dover. (Or) even Port Colborne if you can get that far east.

Q:  We hear about Niagara too. What's going on out there? 

A: They have a really good marketing department. I grew up in Niagara Falls and I was really impressed with the mayor's appearance on the CBC TV the other day. You know, they're really preparing for huge crowds. They're used to having popular events and you know, seeing the total solar eclipse right there with the falls right next to you, that's pretty good.

Q: I live in one of the high rise apartment buildings downtown here in London. I was thinking about maybe going up to the roof. Would I get to see anything?

A: I mean, here in London we got a not quite 99.6 per cent partial eclipse, which still means that there's a sliver of sunlight around the edge of the moon, and even a sliver of sunlight is insanely bright. So you cannot look directly out of a partial eclipse. You need solar viewers for that. They eliminate more than 99.99 per cent of the light. It's like wearing nine pairs of sunglasses on top of one another. You can't use them for anything else, but you can use them for the sun. And even a sliver of sunlight is still bright enough that you want to have those safety viewers on. 

Q: What kind of weather do we need to know the drive is going to be worth it?

A: If it's partly cloudy, like your forecast is for today, you might be able to see the eclipse. You can see the eclipse between clouds. Sometimes people get lucky, right? But if it's really overcast and raining and snowing, then, you know, you may as well stay home. 

Q: How unusual or rare is this eclipse? 

A: The last total solar eclipse in London was 99 years ago, January 1925, and the next one isn't until October of the year 2144. I went to the 2017 one, but the 1925 one I've actually done some reading on. I've done some work on  how it was presented in the media in London and the kind of things that happened. I have some great anecdotes and of course a map and so on. I've got that up on my website.

Q: How excited are you now? 

A: I'm pretty excited. It's still two weeks to go and I don't usually get excited until you know like the morning of even the hour of. But it's pretty neat to hear folks asking questions and when I pass around the solar viewers, I get a lot of great comments and it's fun. It's fun watching people get excited.