ST. JOHN’S – Cloudy skies over St. John’s cleared just in time to give viewers in the city a spectacular view of Wednesday’s partial solar eclipse — the third visible from the province in three years. The moon covered a little more than 50 per cent of the sun for viewers in the Newfoundland and Labrador capital, far from the total solar eclipse that could be seen in the province in 2024, but enough to provide some spectacular sights at a viewing party at the Johnson Geo Centre on Signal Hill. “It’s kind of mind boggling to grasp that you’re actually looking at the sun, that close, and all the wonders of the universe that we don’t understand,” said Michelle Bush, one of many who drove up to Signal Hill to see the eclipse Wednesday. Wednesday’s eclipse was yet another treat for stargazers in the city — the third time in three years that the Johnson Geo Centre held a “sun block” party on their premises. The city saw a 99 per cent solar eclipse in 2024, and an 83 per cent solar eclipse in March 2025. The quick solar eclipse succession has sparked new interest in stargazing among some young viewers, including 11-year-old James Squires. “I like learning about it, different nebulas, different galaxies,” he said Wednesday. The afternoon’s big event looked “like the moon is chewing the sun up,” he said. His mother, Jennifer Grace, said it was a real treat to see the eclipse with her son. “For a couple of years now, he’s been learning and exploring different stuff about space,” she said. “His favourite thing is Mars, Saturn, all the stars, all the rovers, the nebulas, everything.” St. John’s was one of the best places to catch the partial eclipse in Canada — Iqaluit saw slightly more coverage. Staff stationed in Alert, Nunavut, were treated to a partial eclipse covering more than 90 per cent of the sun. “It’s intrigued people forever,” said Christopher Stevenson, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in St. John’s. “We worked hard to figure out how everything moves. We’ve got it down to a science, now you can make these predictions, and lo’ and behold, it happens.” Stevenson set up a telescope at Signal Hill, offering other viewers a glimpse through his higher-tech machinery. Even in a partial eclipse, it was unwise to look directly at the sun. The Geo Centre had eclipses glasses on hand for visitors. “Awe may not be the word, that’s more God-fearing,” said Andy St John, who travelled about 60 kilometres from the Newfoundland town of Avondale to view Wednesday’s eclipse. “Interest is what we’re looking for. Curiosity. Like there’s more to the world than we know, but if we want to look, we can find it.”
