Queen's 2015 Nobel Prize in PhysicsMark your calendars! On April 8th, 2024, Kingston and a lucky few areas in southern Ontario will witness a once-in-a-lifetime event: a total solar eclipse.
The 2024 eclipse will be visible from Mexico, the United States, and Canada. For the first time in almost 700 years, Kingston is located in the path of totality of a solar eclipse where the Sun will be completely blocked out by the Moon. The next time this will occur in our region is in the year 2399! This means many people will be flocking to the area to view this wondrous celestial spectacle, so planning needs to start ASAP!
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On-Campus Event
For the latest information about the Queen's on-campus eclipse event, see the Campus Update in the Queen's Gazette.
Learn moreWhat is a Solar Eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow on the Earth. A total solar eclipse, like the one that will occur on April 8th, 2024, occurs when the Moon completely blocks out the Sun's light and causes night-like darkness during the day on a very slim sliver of the Earth's surface. This sliver is also known as the path of totality.
Where to Go?
Notable cities in the path of totality include Kingston, Montréal, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, and more. Other major cities such as Toronto and Ottawa, however, are not in the path of totality. People in these cities will still see most of the eclipse, but will miss the incredible spectacle of absolute totality. You can check out the entire path of totality on TimeAndDate (pictured left), or get exact details on your location using Xavier Jubier's Google Map.
The Queen's Eclipse Task Force is working in tandem with organizations across Ontario to ensure all schools in the KFL&A region have access to educational activities, resources, and eclipse glasses or viewers for the day of the eclipse (April 8th, 2024).
Furthermore, we have partnered with libraries across KFL&A to host community events and make eclipse resources available for all. Learn more about these initiatives, including where eclipse glasses are being distributed throughout the community.
Accessibility Resources
We in the Queen's community want to ensure that everybody has a chance to experience the 2024 total solar eclipse safely. For this reason, we have collected a list of accessibility tools that can be implemented into your community event planning. If you have other ideas on how to make the 2024 eclipse more accessible, please let us know using the link below.
A free app developed by ARISA Lab: useful to all, but geared toward the Blind and Low Vision (BLV) community. The app includes an interactive "Rumble Map", translating this highly visual event into a fully touch and sound-based experience. It also includes audio descriptions of eclipse events, educational content surrounding eclipses, and is currently available in English and Spanish.
Available for Android devices
A device developed by Harvard University students for the Blind and Low Vision (BLV) community. In short, it is an Arduino-based device that outputs sound based on detected brightness. As the Moon eclipses the Sun, device users will thus experience a representative decrease in sound. It would be a great project for high school students to produce these devices for their communities.
What is an Eclipse?: Reinhard Wittich
Where to go?: TimeAndDate
Fort Henry: JustSomePics / Wikimedia Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Brown's Bay Beach: leawalker.blog.com
Upper Canada Village: St. Lawrence Parks / Cornwall Tourism
Safety: Courtesy Mark Margolis / Rainbow Symphony
Bailey's Beads: Reinhold Wittich
The Diamond Ring Effect: Rick Fienberg/ TravelQuest International/ Wilderness Travel
Pinhole Effects: just sof/ Flickr