All eyes on the skies in Peterborough

Several hundred people took advantage of an offer from the Peterborough Astronomical Association to view Monday’s partial solar eclipse in safety.

Members of the group set up properly filtered telescopes on Armour Hill and handed out dark glasses so those attending could see the moon move across the sun without risking eye damage.

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Peterborough Astronomical Association president Rodger Forsyth says looking at the sun at any time could be hazardous to your vision but people tend to watch eclipses for a longer period of time.

“People get the feeling they can look at it because it’s partially covered.  That’s the wrong thing to do,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "People get the feeling they can look at it because it's partially covered.  That's the wrong thing to do," he said.

If you couldn’t get a pair of the glasses to safely watch the eclipse, you could make up a simple pinhole viewer from a cardboard box.

“A Cheerios box, and the light goes through a tiny pinhole, and it’s enough it actually flips the image, because the hole is so tiny, it projects it onto a piece of paper on the back, making it safe to view,” said eclipse-viewer Hillary Morse.

At its height during Monday’s partial eclipse, the moon covered 67 per cent of the sun. The next eclipse visible in Peterborough will be even more spectacular. In April 2024, 99 per cent of the sun will be covered, throwing the area into darkness for several minutes.