Ottawa solar eclipse enthusiasts countdown to Monday's celestial event
In just a matter of days, the Ottawa-Gatineau area will experience a near-total eclipse.
- Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Asser El Gindy can barely contain his excitement.
"On a scale of zero to 100, I am 200-level excited," he said, counting down the days until the moon passes between the earth and the sun.
His plan is to head towards Cornwall with his family and friends.
"We're driving out of Ottawa to the path of totality, where the sun will be blocked by the moon's shadow for two to three minutes," El Gindy said.
The path of totality will pass just south of Ottawa, hitting Kingston, Brockville and Cornwall before skirting over Montreal.
“As soon as I found out about it, I ordered glasses so we're not going to be scrambling," said enthusiast Rae Jackson, who is off to the Brockville area to experience the eclipse with family.
Ottawa is expected to see a high of 16 degrees on eclipse day, a similar forecast in other parts of the region. Those in Brockville could see a high of 16 degrees, Kingston a high of 13 C and in Cornwall, a high of 17 C.
"We see a mix of sun and cloud, the further east you are the better," said Environment Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips.
"Even with clouds, it doesn't make the experience less awesome."
Phillips also suggests keeping an eye on the temperatures.
"The interesting thing is you will actually feel the temperature drop," he said.
Part of El Gindy's list of items he's packing includes telescopes, solar flared binoculars and eclipse glasses.
The first time dad is thrilled the moment will be shared with his newborn son.
"He is going to spend his first celestial event with me and his mom and it's going to be a total solar eclipse – A unique one," he said.
CTV News Ottawa will have special live coverage of Monday's solar eclipse.
Watch CTVNewsOttawa.ca from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on April 8. You can also tune in to Newstalk 580 CFRA for continuing coverage.
CTV News will have coverage from Kingston, Brockville, Ottawa and the Niagara Region.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.