Cities across Mexico, the US and Canada were plunged into darkness as a total solar eclipse crossed North America on Monday.
The solar eclipse made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast at 11:37 pm IST in Mazatlan. It was North America’s first total eclipse since 2017.
The celestial event, where the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow that completely obscures the sun, was seen from across North America.
The period of totality lasted up to four minutes depending on the observer’s location. A partial eclipse, in which the moon obscures only a portion of the sun, unfolded across most of the continental US, outside the path of totality.
An estimated 44 million people live within the path of totality.
This total solar eclipse held significant interest due to its path crossing more densely populated areas compared to previous occurrences, allowing an estimated 31.6 million people to witness the event without leaving their cities.
Torreon in Mexico emerged as the eclipse enthusiast’s prime location, offering the longest duration of totality.
People travelled from far and wide to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon somewhere along the “path of totality” stretching 4,000 km from Mexico’s Pacific Coast through Texas and across 14 other US states into Canada.
The celestial phenomenon was not visible from the Indian subcontinent.
Celestial enthusiasts in India will have to wait until May 21, 2031, to observe a “ring of fire” solar eclipse, which will be visible from many cities across the country, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.