For people like this Hamilton woman, Monday's total solar eclipse was 'very special.' Here's why
CBC
As she sat in Hamilton's Bayfront Park on Monday afternoon, Semna Matthew was in awe as she watched the total solar eclipse taking shape.
Afterwards, the 29-year-old from Brantford, Ont., had tears in her eyes as she described the "once-in-a-lifetime" experience.
"It's very special … my father passed away recently so I hope he might be seeing this from somewhere else," Matthew said.
"He was really fond of these kinds of things. He was the one that used to take me to these things."
She was among the thousands who gathered in the Hamilton and Niagara region to witness the celestial spectacle as the moon passed between the Earth and sun.
The temperature plunged and the sky darkened as the eclipse reached totality just after 3 p.m. ET.
Much of North America experienced a partial solar eclipse, with only some areas getting totality, including Niagara Falls, Ont., Hamilton, Kingston, Ont., Montreal, Fredericton, Summerside, P.E.I., and St. John's.
The next total solar eclipse in the Hamilton and Niagara region won't be seen until 2144.
Leading up to Monday's event, Glynnis Fleming, 65, thought she was well prepared for what was about to unfold. She'd signed up to participate in NASA's Eclipse Soundscapes Project and recorded her observations during the total solar eclipse from her backyard in Beamsville, Ont.
Even still, she said, she was left in awe.
"It was so much darker and dramatic than I imagined it would be."
She noticed that about 20 minutes before totality, as the sunlight dimmed, robins began singing like they do at dawn and dusk. Then, when the sun was completely covered, everything went quiet.
"I am blown away," she said.
Fleming will submit her observations to NASA, which is gathering data across the continent to help it better understand animal and insect behaviour during eclipses.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.