Georgetown youth Vedant Nathroy will remember April 8 for the rest of his life.
The nine-year-old saw his first solar eclipse today. He, his twin sister and a friend had the day off school, so their parents took them to Dominion Gardens Park in Georgetown to witness the spectacular moment firsthand, solar glasses in tow.
“I think it was really cool. I think it looked like a crescent moon to me,” Nathroy said. It was orange at first. After you waited, it got really dark.”
His sister Nivedita found the whole experience “interesting” because she had “never seen anything like it.”
She added: “I was really excited to see what colours would be there, because I didn’t really know what it was going to be like.”
Their friend Avyan Choubey, also nine years old, was a bit more contemplative than the twins.
“It can only happen once in my generation. And for other generations, it will happen in 40 years,” he told HaltonHillsToday. “I have no words to explain it. It was very cool.”
Nivedita and Vedant’s mother, Srimantika Nathroy, considered herself lucky to see two in her lifetime. The first one she saw as a child in India.
“It was an amazing experience, especially the fact that it totally goes dark during the day,” she said.
The hotly anticipated solar eclipse came and went quickly. For a brief moment, municipalities within the path of totality - and other surrounding municipalities like Halton Hills - darkened. It was as if the colours of southern Ontario were desaturated, creating an almost eerie feeling.
“It was exciting for me to see the change that we take for granted,” artist Lisa Knie said in speaking about the colours of her environment. The experience left her with a better sense of humanity’s place in the solar system.
“It’s humbling. We are not in control. We’re just sort of here to appreciate and to be caretakers of this planet,” she said.
But Knie, and many others almost did not take part. Throughout the day, reports of uncooperative weather threaten to crush people’s dreams of catching this once-in-a-generation experience.
Clouds blanketed the region, leaving many to wonder if the hype was all for naught. Jaskaran Singh, 16, who showed up to Cedarvale Park from Brampton with a modified telescope, said he was “underwhelmed.”
“If it wasn’t cloudy, I feel like I would be overjoyed. We’ll probably drive around and see if there are other places we can find breaks in clouds,” he said.
Just a few minutes after totality, which was around 3:20 p.m., the sky cleared up and sungazers were able to enjoy the view unobstructed.
The next total solar eclipse is anticipated to be on Aug. 12, 2026. It will be on a path over Spain, Iceland and Greenland.
Lynn Broadbent and Gary Dolson, who were disappointed by the weather, decided to make the most of their outing by going for a walk. They said they're willing to travel to see the next one, which will likely be in Barcelona.
“We’re looking for an excuse to travel these days. Now we have a new reason to take a trip,” Dolson said.
TimeAndDate.com has more information for those who want to keep track of the sky.
