Montrealers react to total solar eclipse

At Parc Jean-Drapeau, close to 100,000 Montrealers gathered on Monday to take in a once in a lifetime experience to see a total solar eclipse. The moment everyone was waiting for was when the moon completely blocked the face of the sun creating a day-turns-to-night phenomenon.

“When everyone was yelling, it was fun to like yell with everybody and have to spend time with everybody,” said Sasha Roux. “I love the fact that it like it came dark for some seconds. I like the fact that we could have it near us in Montreal.”

“It’s completely eerie. Just the lighting is completely weird,” said Jonathan Gagné, an astrophysicist for the Montreal Planetarium. “I think the fact that we are here with so many people at the same time, everyone started yelling when it was happening. The crowd experience really adds something I think to the eclipse.”

“When it actually happens and the moon covers the sun and it turns black, it’s such a deep black because it’s literally the other side of the moon that we never get to see how black that is,” said Sylvie Trottier. “And I can’t help crying just from the beauty, the sublime nature of it.” 

“Personally, for me, it was unreal,” said Andrés Valera, adding, “it almost feels like, I don’t know, apocalyptic, if you will. Obviously, it’s not, but it’s one of the lifetimes of opportunity.”

The total solar eclipse started around 3:26 p.m. and lasted for about a minute and a half.

Leading up to it, Montrealers and others visiting from abroad wore their protective eclipse eyeglasses, but when the moon completely covered the sun, the glasses were removed. As the moon’s shadow was cast over Montreal, the sky darkened, making visible the sun’s corona, the outermost layer of its atmosphere.

There was also a noticeable drop in temperature as the sun’s direct rays were being blocked by the moon.

“You really feel the temperature of it,” said Valera. “You can’t really be told that you haven’t never experienced it up until it really happens,”

“For me, the drop of temperature, and it was so exceptional. We feel the drop of temperature well before the totality of the eclipse. And that was amazing,” said Olivier Hernandez, director of the Montreal Planetarium. 

Seeing the eclipse from Espace 67 at Parc Jean-Drapeau gave Montrealers a collective experience with thousands of others who also wanted to observe this rare natural phenomenon in front of the St. Lawrence River and Montreal’s cityscape.   

“The emotion, the emotion coming from the crowd, and it was very special and very pure, a pure moment because of the light coming from the sun and the corona of the sun. It was spectacular,” added Hernandez.  

“This eclipse was being able to be with so many people,” said Lorne Trottier. “There’s supposed to be 100,000 odd people here. Most of the time we’ve been to eclipses in small groups. It’s great to share the wonder with so many people.”

“I mean, it was absolutely incredible. I would describe it as sort of a transcendental experience,” said Sylvie Trottier.

“It’s a very touching moment because it’s the first time for me and my family to actually see a total eclipse. So it’s very touching. In fact, my son, he cried. Yeah, so it’s a unique moment, very historical,” said Mai Nguyen.