By Brian Schultz
Annular solar eclipse in 2005 (WIKIPEDIA)
The solar eclipse will be visible from Manitoba this evening, and the Manitoba Museum has organized a public observing session.
The museum will be offering specialized glasses at Assiniboine Park to view the eclipse, which occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun.
“Solar eclipses are interesting, because you can actually see the clockwork of the heavens ticking right before your eyes,” said Scott Young, the planetarium astronomer at the Manitoba Museum. “But you have to watch safely.”
The Winnipeg Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada will host a public observing session near the park’s baseball diamond, providing safely-filtered telescopes to view the eclipse up close.
Schedule of events:
7:00 p.m. — Observing session at Assiniboine Park begins
7:13 p.m. — Eclipse begins
8:14 p.m. — Maximum eclipse – sun is 60% eclipsed as seen from Winnipeg (slightly more from further south or west; slightly less from further north or east)
9:11 p.m. — Eclipse ends
9:14 p.m. — Sun sets
