Mesquite, Texas — Millions of people flocked to a narrow line that ran from Mexico to the United States and Canada to wait for Monday's celestial sensation: a total eclipse of the sun, even though meteorologists predicted clouds.
The best weather to see the spectacle was expected in Vermont and Maine, as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
It could be the most crowded solar eclipse ever in North America thanks to the density of population in the visibility zone and the appeal of more than four minutes of darkness in broad daylight in Texas and elsewhere. Almost everyone in North America could enjoy at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting.
“Cloud cover is one of the hardest things to predict,” National Weather Service meteorologist Alexa Maines explained Sunday at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. “At least it won’t snow.”
The uncertainty added excitement to the event. Rain or shine, “it's about sharing the experience with other people,” said Chris Lomas of Gotham, England, who was staying in a trailer park with no vacancies left in Dallas, the largest city on the Strip. of land from where the total eclipse would be seen.
For Monday's total eclipse, the Moon was scheduled to pass just in front of the Sun, blocking its light completely. The resulting twilight, in which only the solar atmosphere, or corona, is visible, would last long enough for birds and other animals to remain silent, and to glimpse planets, stars, and perhaps even a comet.
That darkness lasts up to four minutes and 28 seconds. It is almost double that of the eclipse that was seen from one coast to the other of the United States seven years ago, because this time the Moon is closer to the Earth. It will be 21 years before the country has another total solar eclipse of this scale.
The phenomenon, which lasts five hours from the moment the Moon begins to cover the Sun until the end, begins in the Pacific and will first be seen on land in Mazatlán, Mexico, before continuing to Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other states in the north central and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, New England, and later Canada. Your last stop will be Newfoundland, where the eclipse over the North Atlantic will end.
It will take just one hour and 40 minutes for the Moon's shadow to travel more than 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) across the continent.
During an eclipse, eye protection, with appropriate filters and glasses, is necessary to look at the Sun, except when it is completely hidden from view.
1/17 | Photos: this is how hundreds of citizens enjoyed the solar eclipse in Puerto Rico. This image shows how the annular solar eclipse was perceived in Puerto Rico, which on the island was seen as a partial solar eclipse, around 2:00 in the afternoon.
– Nahira Montcourt
The route in which it will be seen in its entirety – which measures about 185 km (115 miles) – includes several cities on this occasion, such as Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York and Montreal. An estimated 44 million people live in that area, and a few hundred million more within 320 km (200 miles) of it. Add to that all the eclipse chasers, amateur astronomers and just the curious, and it's no wonder hotels and flights are sold out and roads are clogged.
Experts from NASA and dozens of universities are deployed along the route to launch research rockets and weather balloons, as well as conduct experiments. The seven astronauts on the International Space Station will also follow at an altitude of 435 kilometers (270 miles).