McMaster engages Hamilton community ahead of Total Eclipse

Department of Physics and Astronomy purchased over half a million eclipse viewing glasses, hosted public lectures and a viewing party for the Apr. 8 total solar eclipse

Ahead of the total solar eclipse on Apr. 8, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University was busy preparing plans to engage all of Hamilton with the rare astronomical event. 

The eclipse is the first of its kind to happen over Hamilton since Jan. 1925. The next total solar eclipse over Hamilton will not occur until 2144. 

In a webinar live streamed in November 2023, Laura Parker, a professor and university scholar in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster, explained how total solar eclipses happen and why they are so rare. 

Parker explained that a total solar eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the Earth and completely blocks out the sun over a certain area. She explained that lunar eclipses, when the moon passes behind and is blocked by the Earth, can be seen far more frequently from anywhere on our planet as the Earth is much larger than the moon and is more likely to completely block sunlight from reaching the moon. 

In contrast, the moon is much smaller and does not cast a total shadow on the whole Earth during a solar eclipse. “The area of the earth which experiences a total solar eclipse when these things happen is pretty small” said Parker. 

Parker elaborated that when a solar eclipse does happen, a much greater area of Earth can witness a partial solar eclipse, meaning that the moon only partially blocks out the sun from that point of view. She explained that it is because the path of totality, the area of the Earth for which the entire sun is blocked, is so small that total solar eclipses are such rare events for any given place on the planet. 

As they are such rare events, many within the path of totality were watching the eclipse and many who reside outside of the path travelled to cities like Hamilton to view it. However, as always looking directly at the sun causes damage to one’s eyes and so special viewing glasses that reduce the intensity of light needed to be worn to watch the eclipse progress. 

For this reason, McMaster purchased more than 600,000 pairs of viewing glasses for the residents of Hamilton. McMaster partnered with local Hamilton libraries to distribute the glasses to residents. Glasses were also distributed to public libraries in Brantford, Burlington, Haldimand County and the Six Nations Public Library. Glasses were also available for students to pick up from McMaster’s libraries. 

In addition, the Department of Physics and Astronomy hosted several lectures about total solar eclipses that were free to attend and open to the public, where attendees could also pick up a pair of viewing glasses.

Finally, on Apr. 8 from 1 to 5 p.m., a viewing party open to McMaster faculty, students, staff and alumni was held at the Ron Joyce Stadium.