On Monday, April 8, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes will experience a total solar eclipse and Canada Post is celebrating it by releasing a new stamp depicting the remarkable event.
A total solar eclipse takes place when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun blocking the face of the sun from view. It takes about two hours to unfold, but there’s a few rare minutes where the sun is completely concealed and the silhouette of the moon is framed from its radiance.
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Mexico and the United States will also experience the solar eclipse, making it the only time in this century that one will occur across most of North America.
This is Canada Post’s first stamp to illustrate a solar eclipse. The astronomical phenomenon won’t be visible to Canadians again for another 20 years.
Canada Post solar eclipse stamp. Courtesy CNW Group/Canada Post.
On the stamp, the sun is at the moment of totality and a line shows the path of the eclipse from its entry point in southwestern Ontario to its exit point in Newfoundland and Labrador. Along the bottom is a collage of land formations on the path of totality, including Ontario’s Niagara Falls, New Brunswick’s Hopewell Rocks, and Spillars Cove in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Richard Nalli-Petta designed the stamp and Michal Karcz illustrated it. There will be 200,000 booklets of 10 Permanent domestic rate stamps available for $9.20 each and 6,000 Official First Day Covers available for $1.92 each.
Stamps and collectibles can be purchased at canadapost.ca and at postal outlets across Canada.
The Canadian Space Agency has information on how to safely watch the solar eclipse at asc-csa.gc.ca.
