Travel to see the eclipse better

On Easter Saturday, Pierre Lemay embarked from San Diego on an astronomical cruise that will search for the best place to observe the April 8 eclipse along the Pacific coast of Mexico.

“It’s a magazine cruise Sky & Telescope », Explains Mr. Lemay, an amateur astronomer who has already observed a total eclipse in the past. “It’s a normal two-week cruise, with stops in Mexican villages. But on April 8, if the weather is not favorable, the ship will go where there is a greater chance of not being cloudy. And there is much less risk of cloudy skies in Mexico than in Quebec. »

Several Quebec astronomers have also traveled to Texas. This is the case of Jean-François Larouche, who is currently in Texas to see his 21^e eclipse. “We had planned a two-month trip,” said Mr. Larouche. We made reservations at two campgrounds in North and South Texas, to go to the place with the best weather. We planned to meet two other Quebec couples there to observe the eclipse. »

But exceptionally, the weather is not good in Texas: the probability of cloudy skies is normally 20%, but the forecast for April 8 is worrying. “We decided to drive north,” said Mr. Lemay. Maybe we’ll have to go all the way to Cleveland. »

View from the air

A third avenue was available to enthusiasts to better observe the April 8 eclipse: a special Delta line flight crossing the totality band of the eclipse, which goes from Austin to Detroit. But The Press failed to find any Quebecers who would have chosen this avenue.

“It wasn’t a bad price, a little over US$1,000 for half an hour of observation,” says Mr. Lemay. And we are sure to be above the clouds. I remember in the 1980s there were flights like this, but they cost a fortune. They were removing the seats on the side opposite the eclipse. » Delta even added a second “eclipse flight” after the first sold out within 24 hours.

The total eclipse lasts a minute longer in the south of the continent than in Quebec. “In Mexico, it lasts almost four and a half minutes,” says Mr. Lemay. My first total eclipse, in 2017 in Oregon, lasted a little over two minutes. The longest total eclipses last seven minutes. One minute counts. »