My interview with VOCM’s Russell Bowers about the upcoming solar eclipse (sadly only a partial eclipse here in North America) will be aired on the Morning Show (6-9 am NDT) on August 10 and 12. Listen here: VOCM Player.
Below I have included what you need to know to view the partial solar eclipse in St. John’s Newfoundland:
PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE IN ST JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND
On August 12, 2026, the moon will appear to move directly across the solar disk. Although a total solar eclipse, one in which the moon completely blocks the Sun, will only be visible in parts of Spain, Portugal and Iceland, observers in other parts of the world, including St. John’s, will experience a partial solar eclipse in which the moon will only obscure part of the Sun.
In St. John’s, the moon will block slightly more than half of the solar disk when the eclipse is at maximum just after 3:30 p.m. (See the time table below.) The entire partial eclipse event here will last for about 2 hours and 9 minutes.
TIME TABLE
2:28:45 p.m. Partial Eclipse Begins. If one observes the Sun safely at this moment, one will see a subtle shadow along the Sun’s upper limb. For the next hour and six minutes, the moon’s dark disk will appear to grow against the disk until the eclipse reaches its maximum extent.
3:34:59 p.m. Maximum Eclipse. At this moment, the lunar obscuration of the Sun will be at a maximum. Here in St John’s, that means that 61% of the Sun’s diameter and 53% of its disc will be blocked by the moon.
4:37:02 p.m. Partial Eclipse Ends. At this moment, the moon will move completely away from the Sun’s disc, leaving it wholly unobscured.
Solar Eclipse Q and A:
Is it safe to observe this eclipse without eye protection? Definitely not. Besides, your eyes will not allow you to look at the Sun during the eclipse. Despite the partial blockage, the Sun’s brightness will remain too intense for direct viewing. One will need to obtain eclipse glasses purchased by a reputable dealer in order to safely watch the eclipse.
However, if you cannot find any of these shades, you can also construct your own viewer. Refer to this NASA video.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves in front of the Sun from Earth’s perspective. Such an eclipse can only happen during the new moon phase (conjunction), when the moon passes between Earth and the Sun. Since successive new moons are separated by 29.5 days, solar eclipses would occur once a month, except that most of the time the moon, Sun and Earth are not precisely aligned when the moon is new. The moon’s orbit is inclined relative to Earth’s orbit by about 5 degrees. Consequently, when new, the moon will most often be “above” or “below” Earth’s orbital plane. Only when the new moon is at or near a node, an intersection point between the moon’s orbit and that of Earth, will a solar eclipse occur.
What’s the difference between “magnitude” and “obscuration?”
“Magnitude” measures the percentage of the sun’s angular diameter that the moon will block at maximum eclipse. “
Obscuration” measures the percentage of the Sun’s disc that the moon will block at maximum eclipse. No, these values are generally not the same. For instance, if the moon blocked exactly one half of the Sun’s angular diameter (magnitude 0.50), the obscuration would be about 0.37, meaning that only 37% of the Sun’s disc would be blocked. In St. John’s, the magnitude at maximum eclipse will be 0.617, but the obscuration will equal about 53.1%. Slightly more than half of the Sun will be blocked at maximum eclipse.
Solar eclipses and lunar eclipses come in “pairs?” Will we see a lunar eclipse as well? It is true that a lunar eclipse either precedes or follows a solar eclipse by about two weeks. St. John’s will experience a partial lunar eclipse on August 28th between 12:03 a.m. – 3:21 a.m.
I understand that the moon is slowly moving away from Earth. Does that mean that eventually solar eclipses will come to an end?Yes, indeed. Although mathematical astronomers have been fighting about this issue for many years, I defer to the work of Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus, who determined that total solar eclipses will continue to occur for about another 600 million years.
I heard that if you go to the right place in space you can see a total solar eclipse at any time. Is that correct? Well, technically, yes. Remember that during a total solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow cone is sweeping across a narrow band along Earth. Since the moon is always casting a shadow, if you went to the spot where the cone tapers down almost to a point, you would be able to see an eclipse. Good luck with that. Note: one exception is when the moon is wholly immersed in Earth’s shadow cone during a total lunar eclipse. During such an eclipse, the moon does not produce a shadow cone as it is cut off from its light source.
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