Total Solar Eclipse 2024 Official First Day Cover cancelled in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
This Official First Day Cover features the Total Solar Eclipse stamp, which commemorates the total solar eclipse that will occur over parts of Canada on Monday, April 8, 2024.
It is the only time this century that the path of a total solar eclipse will cross parts of North America’s three largest countries – Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Good to know
- Total Solar Eclipse 2024 Official First Day Cover cancelled in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
- The Total Solar Eclipse stamp – issued in advance of the total solar eclipse that will occur on April 8, 2024 – marks the first time that Canada Post has issued a stamp featuring a solar eclipse.
- This total solar eclipse is significant in that it is the only time this century that the path of such an eclipse will cross parts of North America’s three largest countries – Mexico, the United States and Canada.
- Previous Canada Post issues related to astronomy include the International Year of Astronomy (2009), which featured images of the Eagle and Horsehead nebulas, and Astronomy (2018), which featured images of the Milky Way and the Northern Lights and marked the 150th anniversary of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
About the issue
The main image on the stamp, created through a combination of photography and illustration, shows the sun at the moment of totality during a total solar eclipse.
Set against the backdrop of a darkened sky, the stamp image also features a metallic silver line depicting the path of the eclipse from its entrance point in southwestern Ontario to its exit point in eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.
Across the bottom of the stamp is a photomontage of land formations along the path of the totality, including Niagara Falls and the rocky shores of Newfoundland’s east coast.
About the eclipse
The shadow of the moon will turn daylight to darkness for millions of Canadians on April 8, as the path of a total solar eclipse crosses parts of North America’s three largest countries – Mexico, the United States and Canada – for the first and only time this century.
In Canada, the awe-inspiring phenomenon – which won’t be seen here again until 2044 – will trace a path of darkness, called the path of totality, from southwestern Ontario to eastern Newfoundland and Labrador.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun in such a way that it blocks the face of the sun from view. While many eclipses take place over uninhabited regions, this one will pass over populated areas in six provinces, as well as many other parts of the continent. A total solar eclipse leads to a brief period of darkness along its path of totality (an approximately 200-kilometre-wide path of darkness). The closer to the centre of the path of totality, the longer the period of totality (for the 2024 total solar eclipse, up to 4.5 minutes). Outside the path of totality, a partial eclipse will be seen.
During a total solar eclipse, temperatures drop suddenly, and most animals and birds react as if it is night (e.g., bees and ants return to their nests, diurnal birds return to their roosts, nocturnal birds become noisy and active, bats start flying and hunting, crickets chirp).
The 2024 total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean and pass through parts of Mexico and the contiguous United States before entering Canada in southwestern Ontario. It will pass through parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes before exiting North America on the eastern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
If the weather is clear, people will be able to see the total eclipse in Canadian locations such as the Niagara Region and Kingston in Ontario; Montréal and Sherbrooke in Quebec; Fredericton and Miramichi in New Brunswick; Meat Cove in Nova Scotia; Summerside and Cavendish in Prince Edward Island; and Gander and Bonavista in Newfoundland and Labrador.
About the design
The front of the Official First Day Cover shows three images, created through a combination of photography and illustration, depicting the moon and the sun during the period leading up to totality and the moment of totality itself.
The back of the Official First Day Cover features an image, also created through a combination of photography and illustration, of the darkened sky and a group of eclipse watchers. It also features a short text on the Total Solar Eclipse, along with credits and captions.
The OFDC features the Total Solar Eclipse Stamp, cancelled in Niagara Falls, Ontario – one of the first cities in Canada on the eclipse’s path of totality.
The cancel image is a line drawing of the protective eyewear used for viewing the eclipse. The stamp was cancelled on March 14 – several weeks ahead of the eclipse on April 8.