Last updated 2025-March-20
Partial Solar Eclipse during sunrise on Saturday, March 29, 2025
During sunrise on the morning of Saturday March 29, 2025, there is a partial solar eclipse visible from Halifax, NS (and all of Atlantic Canada!). Do you remember the total solar eclipse that went through the Maritime provinces (and more) on April 8, 2024, and all of the safety precautions around that? The same safety precautions apply.
It is unsafe to look at the sun directly without proper eye protection. However, there are ways to observe this partial solar eclipse safety! I recommend you read over the safety information found in the solar eclipse webpage from 2024 (click here).
Here are the timings to see the partial solar eclipse from around Halifax, NS:
- Sunrise: 7:00 am ADT (partial eclipse begins to be seen as sun comes over eastern horizon)
- Maximum Eclipse: 7:17 am ADT (sun is at its smallest - it will look like a tiny crescent with proper protection and safe viewing)
- Eclipse Ends: 8:12 am ADT (the moon has fully moved away from the sun!)
Timings are shared from timeanddate.com.
To observe this partial solar eclipse, you will need:
- a safe way to observe the sun, either directly or indirectly
- see the safety information shared for the April 8, 2024 eclipse here
- you can re-use your eclipse glasses from 2024, as long as they are not damaged!
- clear or clear-ish skies, and
- a pretty good view of the Eastern horizon, as this eclipse is happening during sunrise when the sun will be low in the sky.
For more information, see the descriptive page on TimeandDate.com.
Total Lunar Eclipse on Friday March 14, 2025 (in the early morning hours before sunrise!):
There's a total lunar eclipse visible from Halifax (and all of Nova Scotia, even all of North America!) on the night of Thursday March 13, or early morning on Friday March 14.
If there are clear or partially-clear skies, it will be worth waking up (even briefly) to view during the late-night hours. Luckily, no telescopes and no eye protection is needed - you'll be able to see this just with your eyes. Of course, a telescope or binoculars will provide a closer-up view of the moon.
A total lunar eclipse happens only ever during a full moon phase, and is when the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up perfectly so that the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the full moon. The Earth's shadow will pass over the moon, causing the moon to turn a dark red hue during the totality phase -- this red colour comes from the bent light from all sunrises and sunsets that are happening on Earth at that moment.
To see the total lunar eclipse in Halifax, NS, here are the timings. These timings are the same for all of Canada and all of North America, you just need to adjust for time zone differences. Timings are shared from timeanddate.com:
- Partial eclipse begins: 2:09 am ADT (moon starts to get darker, bit by bit)
- Total eclipse beings: 3:26 am ADT (moon totally under Earth's shadow, should look red)
- Total eclipse maximum: 3:58 am ADT
- Total eclipse ends: 4:31 am ADT (moon starting to emerge out of Earth's shadow, red decreased)
- Partial eclipse ends: 5:47 am ADT (moon should look nearly back to normal by-eye)
During the partial eclipse phases, you'll see parts of the moon getting gradually darker (and more red) as the Earth's umbra (shadow) passes over. During the total eclipse phases, all of the moon is covered by Earth's shadow so it will be fully red and darker than a normal full moon.
For more information, see the descriptive page on TimeandDate.com.
Did you see this total lunar eclipse? Astronomy Technician Tiffany Fields took the photo from Dartmouth, NS below during totality.
PhD student Angelo George took the image below from Saint Mary's University campus.
