What if it’s cloudy on eclipse day? Volunteers in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., have you covered

It’s a sinking question hovering above the growing excitement for this spring’s total solar eclipse: what if April 8 is a cloudy day?

It’s a sinking question hovering above the growing excitement for this spring’s total solar eclipse: what if April 8 is a cloudy day?

A group of local volunteers in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., has been working over the past several years to ensure a perfect view of the spectacle, regardless of any cloud cover.

The town (within the District of Carleton North) is already positioned perfectly within the eclipse’s path of totality and will also serve as the launch site for a helium balloon following the event high above central New Brunswick.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon aligns precisely between the sun and Earth, blocking light. This April’s eclipse will follow a path of totality over central New Brunswick during the late afternoon, with totality lasting up to three minutes and 20 seconds in some areas.

The helium balloon will carry a solar telescope for what’s believed to be the first non-governmental project to transmit images from the stratosphere in real time.

“We have to deal with both aviation authorities in Moncton and in Boston,” says project lead David Hunter. “So a lot of work went into this, getting this launch possible.”

Hunter, a retired medical physicist, was inspired to mark this spring’s eclipse after experiencing the 2017 total solar eclipse in Wyoming, Neb.