1979 eclipse as seen in Bozeman, Montana. Wikipedia photo.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the solar eclipse of February 26, 1979.  The path of totality passed through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota before entering Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories. From Canada, the path of totality entered the north Atlantic before ending in Greenland.

The path through Winnipeg, Manitoba, was tantalizingly close to my home in Minnesota, but I was unable to travel to see the spectacle. I had to settle for 90% coverage (in other words, millions of times more sunlight) where I was. I did vow that I would see the next one, in 2017, and I did.

This video shows coverage of the eclipse as totality passed through Winnipeg: