Saturday's sunrise supermoon solar eclipse set to wow eastern Canada
Clear or cloudy skies, here's how to see this amazing astronomical alignment from anywhere.
Saturday's sunrise has a special treat in store for skywatchers in the eastern half of Canada, in the form of a supermoon solar eclipse.
On the morning of March 29, 2025, the Sun, Moon, and Earth will align almost perfectly, casting the Moon's shadow across the surface of the planet.
Unlike the April 8, 2024 event, this will not be a total eclipse. Instead, the Moon will only appear to take a 'bite' out of the Sun for everyone watching, as this alignment produces a partial solar eclipse.
The best view of this eclipse will potentially be seen from Newfoundland, Labrador, and Baffin Island. There, the eclipse will begin either at sunrise or just afterward, and the Moon will gradually cover the Sun over the next 50 minutes or so, until it is reduced down to a thin crescent at maximum eclipse.
Across the Maritimes, Quebec, and through eastern and northern Ontario, the eclipse will be further along as the Sun rises.
In Halifax, for example, sunrise occurs at 7 a.m. ADT, when the Moon will already be covering over 50 per cent of the Sun. The eclipse peaks just 17 minutes later, with roughly 85 per cent of the Sun covered at maximum. The rest of the Maritimes will see a similar progression for the event, but starting slightly earlier for the northeastern mainland, Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island, and later for those farther south and west through Nova Scotia and across New Brunswick.
Farther to the west, observers throughout southern Quebec and the eastern half of Ontario will see the same, with the eclipse already having started as the Sun rises. However, the farther one is from Atlantic coast, the shorter the eclipse will be, and the smaller the 'magnitude' of the eclipse will be at maximum.
Roughly 85 per cent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon in Saguanay, but only 56 per cent in Montreal, 30 per cent in Kingston, and down to less than 10 per cent from the eastern suburbs of Toronto, North Bay, Sudbury, and farther north in Moosonee and Timmins.
READ MORE: See a dawn solar eclipse and two meteor showers in the sky this Spring
Will we see it?
One immensely important factor for anyone wishing to see this solar eclipse is the weather — specifically the cloud cover experienced at the time of the event.
Unfortunately, as of Wednesday's forecast, the only regions that appear to have clear skies Saturday morning are central and southern Nova Scotia, most of New Brunswick, and central Quebec (including Saguanay).
Newfoundland, most of Labrador, southern Quebec, and Ontario all appear to be overcast at that time.
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What if it's cloudy?
If your weather isn't cooperating for this astronomical event, there are still ways to see it.
Timeanddate.com is hosting a live stream of the solar eclipse, with coverage beginning at 5:30 a.m. EDT (1:30 a.m. UTC).
Weather permitting, hosts Anne Buckle and Graham Jones will be presenting views from St. John's, NL, the University of Siena in central Italy, Skibotn and Kristiansand in Norway, and the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London, UK.
'Supermoon' solar eclipse?
Usually, whenever there's talk about a supermoon, it's in relation to an exceptionally big and bright Full Moon.
So, since a solar eclipse occurs during a New Moon — at the opposite end of the Moon's cycle of phases — how can we be having a supermoon solar eclipse?
The orbit of the Moon around Earth (not to scale), and how this translates into the phases of the Moon. (NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio)
Full Moons are not the only type of supermoon. When astrology Richard Nolle came up with the idea of supermoons, he also included New Moons in the definition. Super New Moons just aren't mentioned very often because most New Moons pass without us seeing them.
The Full Worm Moon, with its 'blood moon' lunar eclipse, was the first micromoon of this year. The next Full Moon, on April 12-13, is 2025's apogee micromoon — the farthest, smallest, and dimmest Full Moon of the year.
The three micromoons of 2025 are shown here, along with their corresponding super New Moons. (Scott Sutherland/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio)
Due to the Moon's elliptical orbit, when the Full Moon is farther from Earth, the New Moons preceding and following it will be closer. So, the March 29 New Moon (at 358,689 km away) is a supermoon, while the April 27 New Moon will be the perigee New Moon — the closest and smallest New Moon of the year.
(Thumbnail image courtesy Dave Rocco, who captured this picture of the June 10, 2021 Annular Solar Eclipse from Burlington, Ontario, and uploaded it to The Weather Network's UGC Gallery)