There was a big turnout in Eastend yesterday for the viewing of a partial eclipse.

Nearly 100 people gathered in Eastend's town square to witness the 2:41 long event which reached an estimated peak totality of 94 percent at 11:40 a.m

"There was a lot of people gasping, oohing and aahing over the excitement of the eclipse," said Joan Hodgins, chairperson for the astronomy club at the Wilkinson Memorial Observatory.

The astronomy club provided three telescopes and eclipse viewers for all in attendance.

"With these eclipse viewers you were able to watch the whole movement of the moon as it progressed over the sun," she explained. "There was only a small percentage of the sun that showed, we didn't have the diamond ring effect but we did have the bayleaf tears afterwards as the moon was pulling away from the sun. It was quite dramatic, very dramatic."

This was Hodgins third solar eclipse she has experienced and believes this may be her best yet.

"This to me is the best because I understood what was going on," she said. "It's something to understand that the sun is being blocked out by the moon and from earth, that's what we are seeing. That progression kind of blew me away and as an adult you understand it and I just thought that was phenomena."

The next solar eclipse that will be visible across North America will take place on April 8, 2024, with Toronto being the best viewing region in Canada.