Residents across the city donned solar glasses to view today’s eclipse – including a group who had a prime spot on a rooftop deck overlooking the Fraser River.
Coun. Lorrie Williams hosted a solar eclipse viewing party on the rooftop patio at the Anvil Centre office tower, a venue that provided sweeping views of the waterfront and a perfect place for viewing the eclipse.
“Where else would you want to watch the eclipse? It’s got to be with a group of people,” said Williams. “It’s something special.”
Williams ordered several pairs of glasses from Amazon so her guests could safely view the eclipse, but others watched through welder’s glasses and glasses of their own. Some, like Coun. Patrick Johnstone, viewed the eclipse through pinhole projectors created by using paper plates.
New West resident Rick Carswell and wife Alison Kirkley are both interested in astronomy, and were thrilled to view the solar eclipse with fellow residents.
“I am 66 - I have never seen an eclipse,” Carswell said. “I was motivated to come out. There was so much hype about it. I have tried for the last 12 days to get glasses.”
Burnaby resident Barbara Granger also came up empty handed in her quest to buy glasses, but borrowed her brother’s welding glasses so she could safely view the eclipse.
While viewers in some places, including Oregon, were treated to a total solar eclipse, at 10:21 a.m. the moon blocked out 86 per cent of the sun’s light in New Westminster as it passed between Earth and the sun.
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy quipped that New Westminster “eclipsed the other cities” by having a viewing party atop Anvil Centre.
“I love eclipses,” said McEvoy, who has taken astronomy courses at Simon Fraser University. “I have loved them since I was a little kid. There was an eclipse when I was a kid.”
A history buff, McEvoy said eclipses used to terrify some people as they feared the world was ending when the sun disappeared from view, but some societies, like the Mayans, developed enough astronomy to be able to predict eclipses.
What’s the allure of watching a solar eclipse?
“The vastness of the skies suddenly changes,” McEvoy said. “Everything you count on as normal suddenly changes in a short time."
For some, the eclipse is a reminder of the vastness of the universe.
“I find it very interesting,” said Lynn Radbourne, who saw a solar eclipse in the 1970s. “I can’t wait till they find life outside our solar system – we won’t be around for that. We can’t be the only one.”
