{"id":28283,"date":"2024-04-08T17:53:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T23:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/total-solar-eclipse-wows-north-america\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T23:53:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T23:53:12","slug":"total-solar-eclipse-wows-north-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/total-solar-eclipse-wows-north-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Total solar eclipse wows North America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"San
San Juan College held a watch event during Monday\u2019s solar eclipse, a small part of the continent's biggest eclipse audience ever, with a couple hundred million people living in or near the shadow's path. Above, the solar eclipse, photographed from 12:50 p.m. to 12:54 p.m. in Dardanelle, Arkansas. Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

MESQUITE, Texas \u2013 A chilly, midday darkness fell across North America on Monday as a total solar eclipse raced across the continent, thrilling those lucky enough to behold the spectacle through clear skies.<\/p>\n

Streetlights blinked on and the planets came into view, as the moon shrouded the sun for a few minutes across the land. Dogs howled, frogs croaked and some people wept, all part of the eclipse mania gripping Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n

Almost everyone in North America could see at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting.<\/p>\n

In Farmington, San Juan College Planetarium Director David Mayeux set up telescopes in the courtyard for a public in-person and online viewing in Farmington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were at least 150 people in the courtyard and 90 online,\u201d he said, adding there were cloudy conditions, but that didn\u2019t stop spectators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were able to see the silhouette of the moon crossing the disc of the sun,\u201d Mayeux said.<\/p>\n

It was no different in Texas, \u201cwhere locations were cloudy for at least part of the eclipse, despite the fact it was the prime viewing location along the centerline, particularly in Dallas and San Antonio,\u201d Mayeux said.<\/p>\n

Mayeux received this information firsthand from viewers in Galveston, who logged into the San Juan College online viewing to see the eclipse. \u201cIt was cloudy within the first hour of the eclipse starting, and right around mid-eclipse it was raining,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Veiwers in Farmington were lucky, because even with the high clouds, they were able to witness the eclipse without wind and rain. \u201cThe view was actually better with the digital eyepiece on the computer screen,\u201d Mayeux said.<\/p>\n

It was the continent\u2019s biggest eclipse audience ever, with a couple hundred million people living in or near the shadow\u2019s path, plus scores of out-of-towners flocking in to see it. With the next coast-to-coast eclipse 21 years out, the pressure was on to catch this one.<\/p>\n

\"The
The solar eclipse, photographed from 12:50 p.m. to 12:54 p.m. in Dardanelle, Arkansas. Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The solar eclipse, photographed from 12:50 p.m. to 12:54 p.m. in Dardanelle, Arkansas. Curtis Ray Benally\/Special to Tri-City Record<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Clouds blanketed most of Texas as the total solar eclipse began its diagonal dash across land, starting along Mexico\u2019s mostly clear Pacific coast and aiming for Texas and 14 other U.S. states, before exiting into the North Atlantic near Newfoundland.<\/p>\n

In Georgetown, Texas, the skies cleared just in time to give spectators a clear view. In other spots, the eclipse played peek-a-boo with the clouds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really lucky,\u201d said Georgetown resident Susan Robertson. \u201cEven with the clouds it is kind of nice, because when it clears up, it is like, Wow!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never unsee this,\u201d said Ahmed Husseim of Austin, who had the eclipse on his calendar for a year.<\/p>\n

Just east of Dallas, the hundreds gathered at Mesquite\u2019s downtown area cheered and whistled as the clouds parted in the final minutes before totality. As the sun finally became cloaked, the crowd grew louder, whipping off their eclipse glasses to soak in the unforgettable view of the sun\u2019s corona, or spiky outer atmosphere, and Venus shining brilliantly off to the right.<\/p>\n

Going into Monday\u2019s spectacle, northern New England into Canada had the best chances of clear skies, and that didn\u2019t change. Holly Randall, who watched from Colebrook, New Hampshire, said experiencing the eclipse was beyond her expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect to cry when I saw it,\u201d she said, as tears ran down her face.<\/p>\n

The show got underway in the Pacific before noon EDT. As the darkness of totality reached the Mexican resort city of Mazatl\u00e1n, the faces of spectators were illuminated only by the screens of their cellphones.<\/p>\n

The cliff-hanging uncertainty of the weather added to the drama. But the morning\u2019s overcast skies in Mesquite didn\u2019t rattle Erin Froneberger, who was in town for business and brought along her eclipse glasses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always just rushing, rushing, rushing,\u201d she said. \u201cBut this is an event that we can just take a moment, a few seconds that it\u2019s going to happen and embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A festival outside Austin wrapped up early on Monday because of the threat of afternoon storms. Festival organizers urged everyone to pack up and leave.<\/p>\n

Eclipse spectators at Niagara Falls State Park had to settle for darkness, but no stunning corona views. As people made their way out of the park a little more than an hour later, the sun broke through.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d give it a 6 out of 10,\u201d said Haleigh Thibodeau, who traveled from Buxton, Maine, with her mother.<\/p>\n

In Rushville, Indiana, the streetlights lit up as darkness fell, drawing cheers and applause from residents gathered on porches and sidewalks.<\/p>\n

For some, eclipse day was also their wedding day. Couples exchanged vows in a mass ceremony at a park in Trenton, Ohio.<\/p>\n

St. Louis was just outside totality, but that didn\u2019t stop residents from taking in the scene from the Mississippi River aboard the Tom Sawyer, a paddle wheel riverboat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost enjoyed it a little bit more because it didn\u2019t go black,\u201d said passenger Jeff Smith of St. Louis.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s full eclipse, the moon slipped right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun\u2019s outer atmosphere or corona visible, was long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets and stars to pop out.<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Zoo, Adam Hartstone-Rose, a researcher from North Carolina State University, said most animals remained relatively calm. One gorilla climbed atop a pole and stood there for several seconds, likely a sign of vigilance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody was doing sort of bonkers behavior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The out-of-sync darkness lasted up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That\u2019s almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon was closer to Earth.<\/p>\n

It took just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon\u2019s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) across the continent.<\/p>\n

The path of totality \u2013 approximately 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide \u2013 encompassed several major cities this time, including Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal. An estimated 44 million people live within the track, with a couple hundred million more within 200 miles (320 kilometers).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis may be the most viewed astronomical event in history,\u201d said National Air and Space Museum curator Teasel Muir-Harmony, standing outside the museum in Washington, awaiting a partial eclipse.<\/p>\n

Experts from NASA and scores of universities were posted along the route, launching research rockets and weather balloons, and conducting experiments.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s celestial sensation held special meaning for Fallon Vahani, who followed the action from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Blind from birth, the 44-year-old Indianapolis resident moved her fingertips over a Braille table reader, feeling the small plastic bumps pulsing as they traced the moon\u2019s path. She\u2019d listened to a radio broadcast of the 2017 eclipse and was eager to try this new method.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very excited when I could finally understand what everyone else was talking about,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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