This is the most important

After the moment, everyone applauded as the Sun returned. I observed many individuals crying. It touched us all in ways we couldn’t explain. Our best interpretation was that we briefly felt connected to the Universe via nature.

Solar eclipses are rare (approximately once every 18 months) because the Moon doesn’t circle in the same plane as the Sun and Earth. To view one, the Sun, new Moon, and Earth must be in a straight line (with the Moon between them) and you must be at a place that lines up with them. A total eclipse covers the sun with the new Moon’s shadow. An annular eclipse, like the one that will span North, Central, and South America on October 14, 2023, occurs when the new Moon is furthest from Earth, so its shadow doesn’t hide the sun and a thin “ring of fire” rings its outline.

The technical explanation of an eclipse from Western science doesn’t convey the feeling of seeing it in person. Other cultures see the occurrences as holy and represent them in myths and stories, giving them more significance. Hilding Neilson, an astronomer and Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation member, says that typical academic research loses our connection to nature by concentrating on facts and data.