Eclipse

Solar eclipses are rare and unique astronomical phenomena! iREx members love this phenomenon, and it’s the perfect opportunity to share their passion for astronomy.

In 2023-2024, two solar eclipses were visible from the province of Quebec, where our members are located: a partial eclipse on October 14, 2023, and a total eclipse on April 8, 2024.

At IREx, we

Partnered with many organisations to distribute tens of thousands of glasses, free of charge, at UdeM and in Montreal.
Collaborated on the French video series Pour tout savoir sur l’éclipse solaire totale du 8 avril 2024 produced by Savoir.Media.
Organised the iREx Grande Conférence: Solar eclipses: from Babylon to the space age on March 27, 2024, featuring solar physicist Professor Paul Charbonneau, who will talk about eclipses (conference presented in French).
Spearheaded the program Eclipse Ambassadors Training, an novel initiative to empowers young university students to act as leaders in solar eclipse issues.
Recorded the virtual workshop “E comme Éclipse” (in French with English subtitles) where astrophysicist Marie-Eve Naud discusses solar eclipses for everyone. Released during Science Literacy Week, it has been available as a series of video capsules online on our YouTube channel since September 2023.
Organised AstroMIL 2023, Solar Wink, on October 14, 2023, to watch the partial eclipse with us at the MIL campus of Université de Montréal, where we’ve – among other things – set up a kiosk with a variety of devices to teach astronomy and the eclipse phenomenon in a multisensory way.
Participated in the February 20 edition of Astronomy on tap, where our astrophysicist Marie-Eve Naud talked about the April 8 eclipse.
Our Deputy Director invited everyone to live this unique event (in French)

In addition, we are

We were part of the Regroupement éclipse Québec, which notably created the Quebec reference site for the eclipse of April 8, 2024: www.eclipsequebec.ca/en.
We initiated and were actively involved in all initiatives and events organised by the Équipe Éclipse UdeM, including the event at CEPSUM! Our team, which also included members from several other UdeM units (Bureau des communications et de relations publiques de l’UdeM, Bibliothèques, École d’optométrie, Faculté des arts et des sciences, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Réseau des diplômés et des donateurs), won two major awards:
- Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) Awards of Excellence, gold award in the Best Special Event category.
- Rector’s Award in the Collaboration category.
We sporadically contributed to educational initiatives led by partners, such as Discover the Universe : https://www.discovertheuniverse.ca/eclipse. In particular, we reached out to hundreds of primary, secondary and CEGEP school staff to talk to them about the phenomenon, at professional conferences held in 2022 and 2023.

Media contacts

Marie-Eve Naud, PhD

Astrophysicist and scientific communicator
Education & Public Outreach Coordinator
Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets
Université de Montréal
Member of Eclipse Québec
514-279-3222, marie-eve.naud@umontreal.ca

Nathalie Ouellette, PhD

JWST Outreach Scientist
Deputy Director, Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets & Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic
Université de Montréal
Member of Eclipse Québec
613 531-1762, nathalie@astro.umontreal.ca

Heidi White, PhD

Outreach Officer, Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets & Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic
Université de Montréal
Member of Eclipse Québec
heidi.white@umontreal.ca

Frédérique Baron, PhD

Coordonnatrice Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec
Institut Trottier de recherche sur les exoplanètes et Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic
Université de Montréal
Member of Eclipse Québec
frederique.baron@umontreal.ca

Nicolas Cowan, PhD