Experts will be at several locations around the region Monday for public viewings of the solar eclipse.
The weather is forecast to be clear.
At the University of Victoria, a 9-to-11:30 a.m. open house will be held at the campus observatory on the fifth floor of the Bob Wright Centre. Eclipse glasses will be handed out for people to use and share, while solar telescopes will project the sun’s image on white screens.
The event is free and preregistration is not required. Capacity is 100 people at a time.
The Victoria chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada will be at three sites during the eclipse, which begins at 9:08 a.m., eaches maximum at 10:20 a.m. and concludes at 11:38 a.m. Volunteers will be at the reservoir atop Mount Tolmie, at the carillon in front of the Royal B.C. Museum and at the cricket pitch behind the Metchosin firehall.
Some eclipse glasses will also be available at these events.
“We have a limited supply that we will be giving out on eclipse morning,” said chapter member Ken Mallory, who will be at the Mount Tolmie gathering. He expects about 100 people to attend.
Mallory said there will be about 70 sets of glasses at both Mount Tolmie and the museum, and 15 in Metchosin.
He said he will arrive about 8 a.m. Monday to get ready.
“I want to give myself plenty of time to set up.”
Mallory said the eclipse can be seen from many places.
“I’ve heard of people gathering at Cattle Point, Beacon Hill Park,” he said. “As long as you can see the sun, you can do it from your backyard.”
He said the eclipse has drawn considerable interest from the public.
“Since we’ve had our media release, I’ve been flooded with phone calls about the best place to look, solar glasses.”
Here are some other methods for safe eclipse viewing:
• Pinhole camera/viewer — One of the simplest ways to make one of these is to poke a hole in a piece of paper with a pen or a nail. Hold the paper in the sun a few feet above and parallel to the ground, and look at the image below it.
• Cheese grater — Holding up a cheese grater will produce a projection of many suns on a surface.
• No. 14 welder’s glass — Sunglasses will not protect you.
• Look on a sidewalk or other surface where there is a shadow cast by leaves. The light that comes through will produce an image.
