From the Pacific Ocean to the North Pole via the Sahara Desert, eclipse chasers are ready to brave many obstacles to spend a brief moment in the shadow of the moon. Their passion is less dangerous than those of tornado chasers, but it requires preparing years in advance, since the phenomenon often occurs at sea or in places that are difficult to access. Their feats of arms are counted in minutes, total eclipses being short-lived. One week before April 8, here is the portrait of some of these enthusiasts of the celestial shadow.
Michel Tournay in front of the Russian icebreaker that took him to the North Pole in 2008. Courtesy (Michel Tournay)
Michael Tournay
62 ans
13 total eclipses
Cumulative: 39 minutes and 23 seconds
April 8 destination: Mexico
1) A marriage punctuated by eclipses
“It changed my life,” says Michel Tournay, 62 years old. This retired nurse began tracking eclipses in the 1990s. After observing the 2006 eclipse in Libya, he found himself in the middle of a terrorist attack in Egypt.
“I’m supposed to be dead […] I said to myself: I need to set the record straight in my life.”
He therefore decided to follow his passion and take a trip to the Arctic aboard a Russian icebreaker to observe the eclipse of August 2008.
“These things are trips for millionaires,” admits the man who saved for two years to accumulate the necessary $30,000. “I was motivated pretty much.”
The Estrie resident not only met his American wife during an eclipse trip to Easter Island in 2010, he also proposed to her aboard an eclipse cruise departing from Fiji Islands, in 2012.
Even the engagement ring he gave to his sweetheart was in the shape of an eclipse. By the way, “diamond ring” is the name given to the brilliant sparkle that protrudes beyond the contours of the moon just before the sun is entirely hidden. Their honeymoon in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard coincided with the 2015 eclipse.
Françoise Boutin and Jean-François Guay, during a trip to Argentina after an eclipse, in 2019. Courtesy (Jean-François Guay)
Jean-François Guay
49 ans
11 total eclipses
Cumulative: 28 minutes 34 seconds
April 8 destination: Texas
Françoise Boutin
67 ans
5 total eclipses
Cumulative: 14 minutes 17 seconds
April 8 destination: Texas
2) Reserve two campsites, just in case
On the other end of the line, Jean-François Guay and Françoise Boutin apologize for the poor cell reception. It is that when speaking with The newspaperthey had already left Montreal to go to Texas aboard their recreational vehicle.
Over a year ago, they reserved two campgrounds: one in North and one in South Texas. This way, they can choose the least cloudy place.
Although total solar eclipses are rare, there is approximately one every 18 months somewhere on the planet, estimates Mr. Guay, who is often considered a reference on the subject. “The perfect frequency for traveling.”
3) “The driver was nervous”
“There are always funny things that happen,” says Ms. Boutin, a retired teacher. In 2008, the group she was part of obtained permission from the Mongolian government to travel into the desert near the Chinese border. But on site, the soldiers refused them access. “In the morning, we left quietly” towards the coveted area with the help of a highly paid driver. “The driver was very nervous.”
For Mr. Guay, the most complex trip to plan was the 2006 trip to Libya, when the country was still under the regime of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. “You had to be invited by a Libyan,” he explains. On site, his group did more than three days of off-roading in the Sahara Desert to reach the right site. However, there was then a shortage of 4X4s due to the craze, to the point of requiring imports from adjacent countries, he says.
Rachelle Léger in La Higuera, Chile, to observe the 2019 eclipse. Courtesy (provided by Rachelle Léger)
Rachelle Leger
72 ans
4 total eclipses
Cumulative: More than 11 minutes
April 8 destination: Mexico
4) “The most beautiful thing I have seen in my life”
It was while reading the book of an astronomer who described being amazed by a solar eclipse that Rachelle Léger wanted to see one. In 2009, she traveled to the Pacific Ocean from the Japanese island of Iwo Jima to witness the longest eclipse of the 21st century, lasting 6 minutes 30 seconds.
In Idaho, Ms. Léger was able to see for the first time the famous shine of a “diamond ring” overflowing from the moon during that of 2017. “It’s the most beautiful thing I have seen in my life […] It took my breath away. If I think about it, I get chills.”
Nathalie Ouellette during transit of Venus, in 2012. Photo courtesy Nathalie Nguyen-Quoc Ouellette
Nathalie Ouellette
36 ans
1 total eclipse
Cumulative: Nearly 3 minutes
April 8 destination: Montreal
5) On the road for 24 hours
The most avid hunters are willing to travel hundreds of kilometers following weather patterns in order to find a hole in the clouds. During the 2017 eclipse, Nathalie Nguyen-Quoc drove six hours from St. Louis to a village near Knoxville.
“I was refreshing the web pages [pour trouver un hébergement]. I finally found a room for smokers in a motel,” says with a laugh the woman who is deputy director of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets.
Once the eclipse was over, we had to face the monster traffic jams to return to Canada. “We were on the road for 24 hours.”
Marc Jobin, astronomer at the Montreal Planetarium. Photo Dominique Scali
Marc Jobin
58 ans
10 total eclipses
Cumulative: Nearly 33 minutes
6) Increasingly popular
In the past, eclipse travel only attracted a niche clientele. But over the past fifteen years, more and more people have been engaging in it, notes Marc Jobin, astronomer at the Planetarium. Maybe it’s social media or destinations becoming more accessible, he supposes.
In 2027, a total eclipse will pass over North Africa, with the epicenter in Luxor, Egypt. We can imagine the crowds that might attract the possibility of observing it in the heart of the Valley of the Kings, in the middle of ancient temples. “Everyone is going to want to be there. According to what people say, [Louxor] has already been full since 2022,” says Mr. Jobin, who deplores the “artificial scarcity” created by resellers.
Philippe Moussette, president of the VÉGA astronomy club of Cap-Rouge. Diane Tremblay
Philippe Moussette
45 ans
1 total eclipse
Cumulative: 2 minutes 30 seconds
April 8 destination: Texas
7) For beauty and mystery
“I’m sick of eclipses […] For me, it’s the infinitely great. That’s the beauty. It’s the mystery,” testifies Philippe Moussette, a well-known amateur astronomer from Quebec. This will be his third observation trip outside the country, if we count annular and partial eclipses.
Like him, hunters say they are impressed by the sudden darkness, but also by the cooling of the atmosphere, the planets that become visible and the changes in the behavior of animals.
In the coming days, Mr. Moussette will fly to Texas, where he will be able to experience the eclipse for 4 and a half minutes, compared to 3 and a half minutes at Mont-Mégantic. For the hotel room alone, he will have to pay $1,200, in addition to the $700 plane ticket.
And after? He is already planning to travel to Spain for the total eclipse of 2026.
– With Diane Tremblay from Quebec Journal
Paul Houde (right) with his friend Pierre Arpin (left), during a trip to India in 1980 to observe a total eclipse. Facebook
When Paul Houde compared eclipses to a drug
Host Paul Houde, died in early March was one of the enthusiasts who, as soon as a solar eclipse ends, immediately wants to pursue another, to the point of comparing this passion to a drug.
“I notice one constant in all the eclipse chasers I’ve met. These are always people who are looking for something very specific.”
The late host thus analyzed his own quest for perfection within the framework of the documentary Shadowhuntersproduced in 2000.
This tendency for hunters to mark out their lives by day according to the different eclipses they have experienced, “it makes everyone around us laugh”.
In the documentary, we follow Mr. Houde in his travels in Austria preceding the total solar eclipse of 1999. He was then accompanied by his father and his son.
“In terms of the emotion that this eclipse brought me, it surpasses everything,” he confided to the camera.
Build your own telescope
At the age of 15, Paul Houde was already an amateur astronomer. He built the mirror of his own telescope, he indicated in 2021 as part of the podcast Space travel.
He experienced his first eclipse in 1972, in Gaspésie. Since then, he has chased the eclipse in India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. He was often accompanied by his long-time friend, Pierre Arpin.
Too grieving, Mr. Arpin declined our interview request, but provided information by email.
In February 1979, their group woke up the owner of a hotel closed for the winter in a small Manitoba village to observe the eclipse despite the cold. “She was perfect!” exclaimed Paul Houde at the microphone of Space travel.
Fill the void
«[Après]there is a kind of void that sets in and which must be filled by the prospect of seeing another […] You would compare it to a drug. Well, I need to reinject myself as soon as possible with the next eclipse,” admitted Mr. Houde in Shadowhunters.
“I am one of those who are, unfortunately, irremediably linked to eclipses. Forever.”
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2024-03-30 00:02:15
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