Total solar eclipse stretches across North America from Mexico to Canada. [Photo/Agencies]
Millions of people in North America gathered on Monday to watch the rare phenomenon of a total solar eclipse, with many wearing special protective glasses for an event that won't happen again for 21 years.
The eclipse drew everyday people, amateur astronomers, scientists and those wanting to experience something out of this world in a narrow corridor from the United States to Mexico and Canada.
All watched the sun become obscured for up to four minutes and 28 seconds in the middle of the afternoon. The next time there will be a similar total solar eclipse visible to as many people coast to coast will be in 2045.
Crowds first watched the skies go dark in Mazatlan, Mexico at 11:07 am PDT, before the eclipse path moved into Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Then, it could be seen in another 12 US states in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and New England.
Solar prominences are seen during a total solar eclipse in Dallas, Texas, US, April 8, 2024. [Photo/Agencies]
The celestial light show moved on to Canada and ended its dazzling show in Newfoundland in the North Atlantic at 3:46 pm EDT. A partial eclipse could be seen in 48 US states, where the moon made the sun a fiery orange-red color.
Scientists said that an eclipse occurs when the moon moves into direct alignment with the sun and Earth. The shadow it casts on earth creates the eclipse.
Altogether, it took just under 1 hour and 40 minutes for the moon's shadow to cross more than 4,000 miles across the continent.
Weather forecasters had carefully watched looming clouds and potential storms near the eclipse' path to see where visibility would be best. But the clouds mostly cleared at the last minute.
The path of totality was around 115 miles wide and included the major cities of Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York and Montreal. More than 32 million people were in the path of totality.
Total solar eclipse stretches across North America from Mexico to Canada. [Photo/Agencies]
Some onlookers had traveled by plane, train and car to areas in the path of the eclipse, providing a boon for local hotels, which doubled their nightly rates, such as in Buffalo.
Crowds across the country sat on blankets and lawn chairs and clapped and cheered as they watched it live. In Russellville, Arkansas, hundreds of couples got married under totality.
In Manhattan, office workers took a break to gather in groups high up on the city's iconic skyscrapers to take in the eerie sight.
US President Joe Biden was seen with a pair of special glasses to watch the eclipse as he boarded Air Force One after giving a speech in Madison, Wisconsin.
Airbnb occupancy rates from Texas to Maine in the path of the eclipse were at 90 percent. At Niagara Falls, a large crowd gathered to watch.
In Dallas, the sky became dark at 1:40 pm local time. In Buffalo, crowds saw the changes as they gazed toward the heavens at around 3:18 pm EDT.
The full eclipse saw the moon go in front of the sun and completely cover it, blocking its light, achieving totality. The impact of having just the sun's cornea visible was a humbling delight for eyewitnesses.
Patrons use special protective glasses to observe a total solar eclipse during a practice round in Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia, the US on April 8. [Photo/Agencies]
Onlookers reported the temperature dropping as the sun was covered. Some animals at the Dallas Zoo appeared confused, reports said.
The eclipse lasted twice the time that it did in North America in 2017, as the moon was closer to the Earth at the time.
Experts warned that it was unsafe to look directly at the bright sun without use of specialized glasses made with filters, as it can cause an eye injury.
Specialized glasses also were needed even when looking through a telescope. The only moment it was safe to remove eye protection was when the moon completely blocked the sun's surface.
Washington DC experiences partial solar eclipse. [Photo/Agencies]
To get inside the inner workings of the eclipse, the US space agency NASA conducted several experiments and fired three sounding rockets from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study it more closely.
In ancient civilizations, mysterious eclipses were often feared.
One of the first eclipses recorded was in 753 BC, in Assyria (near modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria).
Chinese diviners' queries on oracle bones from 1300 to 1100 BC also mention eclipses, according to Reuters.
Ancient Chinese astronomers recorded solar eclipses from 720-480 BC, in the state of Lu, presently China's Shandong province. In ancient times, they saw it as a heavenly sign that forecasted the emperor's future.
By the first millennium AD, Chinese imperial astronomers became adept at predicting eclipses within just 15 minutes.
Total solar eclipse stretches across North America from Mexico to Canada. [Photo/Agencies]
A total solar eclipse is seen in Dallas, Texas, US, April 8, 2024. [Photo/Agencies]
Total solar eclipse stretches across North America from Mexico to Canada. [Photo/Agencies]
