Ironically, during Montreal’s total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, I was in Madrid – one of the lucky cities in the path of totality for the total solar eclipse crossing the region on . Though I wish I had plans to see this summer’s total eclipse, I fear the stars won’t align for me. With eclipse viewing festivals and travel accommodation nearly sold out, to experience this interstellar phenomenon would cost a pretty penny .
As a refresher from 2024, a occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun all line up. When they are lined up, the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, resulting in the Moon’s shadow covering parts of the Earth’s surface. There are two distinct parts to this shadow: the umbra and the penumbra. The is the part of the Moon’s shadow where there is no visible light. Those who experience a total solar eclipse will find themselves in regions within the umbra. In this case, the sky darkens as if it is dawn or dusk. The , by contrast, is where the light source (the sun) is partially blocked – in Latin, paene = “almost” and umbra = “shadow”. Individuals who are within the penumbra experience a partial eclipse. In the 2024 eclipse, Montreal was in the umbra.
Eclipses can be more than just a fascinating view. In preparation for the 2024 solar eclipse, NASA developed projects that invited eclipse-viewers to collaborate with NASA scientists to make important scientific discoveries. In one of their projects called Eclipse Soundscapes, NASA invited citizens to document how sudden darkness and temperature changes as a result of a solar eclipse impacts life on Earth. Citizens were asked to use an audio moth sound recorder (a special wildlife sound recorder) or their own senses to collect relevant data. This project is due to the size of the datasets, but the results are set to be published this year. Another project NASA ran in 2024 was called GLOBE Eclipse, which invited citizens to use a special app and thermometer to measure air temperature changes and cloud cover during the eclipse. To contribute to these projects, all citizens have to do sign up for their . Depending on the role they select, they undergo specific project tutorials to familiarize them with their tasks and relevant equipment they will use.
It has been suggested that feelings of awe, such as those inspired by total solar eclipses, can motivate individuals to engage in citizen science. These experiences not only promote public scientific engagement, but they also build public trust in science. In a on May 26, 2026, researchers aimed to understand this very relationship: how feelings of awe, inspired by viewing a total solar eclipse influenced feelings of scientific identity and belonging for individuals.
The study design for this project was fairly simple, 528 participants between the ages of eight and eighty were guided through an online training module. This module taught the participants how to record accurate observations of animal behavior during the day of the eclipse (before, during, and after). Additionally, participants completed validated measures of scientific identity and belonging, as well as a post-test measure of awe in response to experiencing the eclipse.
What the researchers found was fascinating. Participants who observed totality reported greater feelings of awe than those who only experienced a partial eclipse. Additionally, researchers also found that those who observed animals who expressed a greater change in their behavior in response to the eclipse also reported greater feelings of awe. What is important here, though, is that these feelings of awe also were associated with increased feelings of scientific identity and belonging.
Despite the promising findings, it is important to note that there are some important limitations to this study. The most apparent one was that there was no control group (i.e. individuals living in the region who did not experience the eclipse). This is an important factor to consider in terms of establishing a baseline for comparison between the two experimental groups. Additionally, researchers only assessed feelings of awe immediately after witnessing the eclipse, meaning that there is a lack of data on prolonged feelings of awe. Even still, these findings demonstrate that formal or prolonged scientific education is not always necessary to get people to relate to science.
While more research should be conducted in this realm, something that remains true is the ability for a scientific phenomenon such as an eclipse to elicit an intense emotional response. These responses can have fascinating implications for science as well as how citizens of the world relate to their environments. As eager as I am to have my “awe-moment,” I suppose I’ll have to wait for the next eclipse…
Eva Kellner is a recent graduate from the Faculty of Arts and Science, with a major in Environment. Her research interests include urban green spaces, urban agriculture, and outdoor community spaces - all as promoters of climate resilience among city-dwellers.
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