SOLAR Eclipse 2021
Early in the morning of June 10, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, creating a solar eclipse.
The eclipse will be visible early in the morning and people located in the path of annularity (grey zone on the map) will get to see the best show: a ring of Sun in the sky!
Background image provided by Sébastien Gauthier (c) Cosmagora
Participate in our Eclipse Challenge and learn how to observe the eclipse safely.
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, and this always happens at new Moon. If the alignment is perfect, the shadow of the Moon will fall on the surface of the Earth. From our perspective, this looks like the Moon passes in front of the Sun, covering part of it.
What is an annular eclipse?
This particular solar eclipse will be an annular eclipse. This occurs when the Moon is further away from Earth and appears slightly smaller in the sky. It does not block out the Sun entirely - creating a ring during the eclipse. “Annular” is from the word “annulus” meaning “ring” or “circle-shaped”, which refers to the ring of the Sun that is visible around the Moon during the eclipse.
People located in the path of annularity (Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec and Eastern Nunavut) will be able to see the annular eclipse for a few minutes at the maximum of the eclipse. Everyone else will see a partial eclipse.
You can find out what the annular solar eclipse on June 10, 2021 will look like in your area as well as the times it is visible on Time and Date. Use the search bar on the map to find your community or closest populated region.
We also recommend the list of local circumstances for many cities across Canada from the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in Montreal.
What will I see on June 10?
Early morning on June 10, the Moon will start obscuring the Sun. As the eclipse progresses, more and more of the Sun will be blocked until we reach the maximum of the eclipse. This is the partial eclipse phase.
What happens next depends on where you are located.
For people inside the path of annularity: the annular eclipse will only lasts a few minutes but it will be a great show: a ring of “fire” in the sky!
For people outside the path of annularity, including all southern Canada, the maximum eclipse is when the Moon will cover the most of the Sun. For example, in Ottawa, 80% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon: a great partial eclipse!
After maximum eclipse, the Moon will slowly move away from the Sun, and the partial steps will be visible until the full disk of the Sun is visible again.
The entire eclipse will last about 2 hours. For some people, the eclipse will already be underway at sunrise.
how can i safely observe the eclipse?
Looking at the Sun without proper eye protection, including during an eclipse, can severely hurt your eyesight and even damage it permanently.
Never look directly at the sun with bare eyes.
It is always dangerous to observe the Sun, but we naturally tend not to look at it on any sunny day. During an eclipse however, we want to look at the Sun and we need to do it safely. The easiest way to do it is to have ISO certified eclipse glasses.
If you don’t have eclipse glasses, you can observe the eclipse indirectly by projecting the image of the Sun. Check out our Eclipse Challenge Blog Post to find out how (coming in a few days!)
Eclipse Project 2021
We created educational material on the eclipse, which loaded onto a USB key as part of our Eclipse Kit. These Kits were shipped to over 100 remote communities, most of them in or near the path of annularity. You can learn more about this project in our blog.
We highlight some parts here:
The video below, featuring astronomer Laurie Rousseau-Nepton, tells a a First Nations' and a Inuit Peoples' story that relate to solar eclipses. These videos were created in collaboration with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the Dunlap Institute.
Also available with French audio with all subtitles: see all versions