Monday’s solar eclipse brought Langley residents outdoors with protective viewing devices that ranged from special eclipse glasses to home-made pinhole cameras and re-purposed welding glasses.
At historic Fort Langley, over 1,200 visitors gathered to view the partial solar eclipse.
Parks Canada distributed certified eclipse glasses and a heritage interpreter provided a brief presentation on historical connections to the eclipse.
In Langley City, people gathered in Douglas Park to witness the moment, at 10:21 a.m., when the sky was at its darkest, with approximately 85 per cent of the sun blocked.
The best place to view the event in B.C. was the Victoria area, where 1,500 people made their way up Mount Tolmie on foot and bike to see the moon blot out 90 per cent of the sun.
When it happened, there was applause and cheering.
To see the full eclipse, some B.C. residents went to the U.S. — like Colin Wilson, a chiropractor from Courtenay, who went to Oregon.
“People were hooting and hollering,” Wilson said.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon totally or partly obscures the view of the sun from Earth.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
