Will I see the total eclipse? I am pessimistic, because I know very well that here in Montreal, the Sun shows itself much less than in Madrid or Cancun. Our weather is rather capricious and depressing, especially when you are an amateur astronomer. Anyway, if there aren’t too many clouds, I’ll use my binoculars and project the image onto a white card. But even with the clouds, we will still see the sky getting darker.
However, a long-term rewarding action would be to establish an introductory astronomy course in primary school, which could just as easily be continued in secondary school and why not in CEGEP as an option.
We are in the 21ste century, and the world entered the space age. But I seriously wonder if our government and its Ministry of Education realize this… Our thirst for scientific knowledge is so great that we want everything to be explained to us. And this also applies to astronomical knowledge, including of course the Earth’s relations with our increasingly less mysterious Universe.
Bringing childhood into this essential knowledge would be a major asset. And who knows if it wouldn’t lead some (or a few) to fascinating future careers. Quebec must innovate…
To watch on video