By now, most will know that Cobourg is in the path of a total solar eclipse on Monday April 8 around 3:20 pm. At around that time in Cobourg, the sun will be blocked by the moon, it will go dark for just over 1 minute and then it will revert to a partial eclipse which will be not much different to normal. So what does this mean? Being careful how you view it seems obvious – use only specially approved glasses or create a pin-hole “camera” – but “emergency” organizations in the Town and County have listed a range of other concerns and all schools will be closed for a re-scheduled PA day. Parents should check with day care centres who may also close.
Protect your eyes
As you might expect, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has comprehensive information on protecting your eyes. Go here.
Note especially that even looking at a small sliver of the Sun during a solar eclipse can be harmful to vision with possible permanent damage. And do not use a camera or phone camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device to look at the Sun. They do not provide protection and you could damage cameras.
Concerns of Emergency groups
In Cobourg that’s the “Emergency Control Group”; for Northumberland that’s the “Community Emergency Management Coordinator”.
Because this is a “once in a lifetime event” and because only a narrow path (~110km) will experience a total eclipse, it’s expected that many people will travel to locations with totality (like Cobourg) causing traffic congestion, heavy usage of roads, line-ups at gas stations and busy cell phones. It will no doubt be worse in places like Niagara but Cobourg is predicted to be busy!
Here are the recommendations and closures:
- Please stay off the road. If you can work from home, consider doing so.
- Think of purchasing your groceries or any other regular supplies in advance of April 8.
- Cobourg Police Service reminds motorists to stay alert and exercise patience. Plan your route and leave extra time to get to and from your destination.
- Fuel up vehicles in advance of the April 8 event
- The Cobourg Fire Department will be adding an additional crew as a precautionary measure. Residents are advised to consider viewing the eclipse from a less densely populated area and one that will have a lower demand for facilities such as washrooms.
- Both Public and Catholic School boards have rescheduled PA days to April 8 so schools will be closed
- Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) located in Bewdley, Seymour and Brighton will be closing at 1:00 pm on Monday, April 8. (They cannot operate in the dark!)
- The Northumberland County Forest will be closed from 12:00 pm Sunday, April 7 and will reopen the morning of Tuesday, April 9.
- Some businesses will be closed – one example is the United Way office.
Is this an over-reaction? I guess we’ll soon see.
Eclipse Timing for Cobourg
For Latitude: 43.963056N and Longitude: 78.164722W (approx. James and Division)
Partial Eclipse starts: 14:06:59
Total Eclipse Starts: 15:20:56
Duration of Total Eclipse: 1:21.7
To actually see the eclipse, there will of course have to be no clouds in the way!
Or you can watch online
Resources
- Town of Cobourg – eclipse page or here
- Northumberland County – eclipse page – includes map of path of totality
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