Clouds that chilled the afternoon in St. John’s gave way just in time on Wednesday, letting residents and visitors see a partial solar eclipse that covered a little more than half of the sun over the Newfoundland and Labrador capital.
Signal Hill crowd watches the moon ‘chew the sun’
On the grassy slopes around the Johnson Geo Centre on Signal Hill, people gathered for the centre’s third consecutive “sun block” viewing party. Telescopes, eclipse glasses and a good dose of patience were on display as the moon slowly passed in front of the sun, producing the sort of sight that has been described by some attendees as nearly surreal.
“It’s kind of mind boggling to grasp that you’re actually looking at the sun, that close, and all the wonders of the universe that we don’t understand,”
said Michelle Bush, one of many who drove up to Signal Hill to see the event.
The phenomenon was accessible to a broad cross-section of observers, from seasoned amateur astronomers to families introducing children to the skies. Eleven-year-old James Squires, who attended with his family, summed up the reaction of many young stargazers: “I like learning about it, different nebulas, different galaxies,” he said, adding the eclipse looked “like the moon is chewing the sun up.” His mother, Jennifer Grace, said it was a special moment for him: “For a couple of years now, he’s been learning and exploring different stuff about space. His favourite thing is Mars, Saturn, all the stars, all the rovers, the nebulas, everything.”
Three eclipses in three years — a rare run
This partial eclipse is the third event to draw onlookers in as many years to the Johnson Geo Centre. The city saw an almost-total event in 2024 when coverage reached about 99 per cent, followed by an 83 per cent eclipse in March 2025, and now Wednesday’s event with the moon obscuring just over 50 per cent of the sun.
That quick succession of visible eclipses has done more than provide dramatic skywatching; it has sparked renewed interest among younger observers and families, and encouraged local institutions to keep offering public viewing events when the skies permit.
| Year | Approximate Sun Coverage |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 99% |
| 2025 | 83% |
| 2026 | >50% |
Where the coverage was greater
While St. John’s offered a memorable view, observers elsewhere in the North saw marginally more of the solar disc obscured: Iqaluit experienced slightly greater coverage than the provincial capital. The agency staff in Canada’s northernmost community at Alert, Nunavut, were also positioned to monitor the event.
Public safety and interest
Organizers at the Johnson Geo Centre made safe viewing available for those attending the sun block party. Proper eye protection is a basic safety requirement for watching any partial eclipse; built-in filters for telescopes and certified eclipse glasses were in use by volunteers and visitors alike.
- Attendance included families, amateur astronomers and casual viewers.
- The Johnson Geo Centre has hosted public viewing events for each of the three recent eclipses.
- The run of eclipses has sparked increased youth interest in astronomy in the city.
For many in St. John’s, the event was a reminder of the province’s unique place on the map for skywatching over the past several years. The sequence of eclipses has created an informal tradition: when the sky cooperates, people are ready to gather and look up.
Whether those gatherings become more frequent depends on celestial mechanics no one in town can control, but for Wednesday at least, the clouds parted and the spectacle was there for anyone willing to look. The moon had done its work; the crowd did the rest, sharing the small, communal hush that comes with watching daylight dim as the heavens move.
