On April 8, 2024 total Solar eclipse It cast its massive shadow over North America, cutting a 115-mile (185 km) wide and 10,000-mile (16,000 km) long path of sudden darkness across the continent.
The eclipse began in Mexico, traveled through 15 US states before passing through Canada, and was visible to an estimated 44 million people. If you haven't seen this stunning spectacle in person, here are all our favorite photos taken from eclipse viewing parties across the Americas.
Related: No, you didn't see a solar flare during a total eclipse, but you may have seen something quite special
The first total eclipse began in Mazatlan, Mexico, where spectators saw the moon pass in front of the sun's disk. Just before totality, viewers saw a thin, diamond-like ring of sunlight shining through valleys on the moon's outer surface.
After the Moon completely obscured the face of the Sun, all that could be seen were thin purple pillars in the corona caused by solar flares.
Meanwhile, the moon began to carve the sun into a thin sliver of a toenail over Fort Worth, Texas.
Then, just before it was completed, the effect of the diamond ring could be seen. As the last grains of sunlight streamed through the valleys on the moon's tip, the two bodies appeared in the sky like a ring studded with brilliant diamonds.
Later, in space, ESA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite captured the moon's shadow sweeping across North America.
The eclipse passed over Cleveland, Ohio, where the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians were about to face off. Baseball fans and players alike flocked to the stadium to take photos of the eclipse. This image shows a composite of the partial and total phases of the eclipse as seen from the precession field.
During a total eclipse, the sun's corona shone in the dark sky, high above the stadium lights at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
As the eclipse passed over Dallas, Texas, a NASA photographer captured the full progress on camera. This composite image shows both partial phases of the eclipse on the left and right, with the corona visible during the moment of totality in the center.
Solar prominences (enormous rings of plasma that rise above the surface of the Sun) were visible during the total eclipse to those using telescopes and telephoto cameras. Each prominence is several times taller than the Earth.
Partial phases of the eclipse were visible above the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., as this NASA composite image shows.
The sun's last rays peeked over the Moon's mountains just seconds before the total eclipse began in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Clouds obscured most of the total phase of the eclipse at Niagara Falls, as millions of people flocked to both sides of the river in the United States and Canada to witness the spectacle. While the corona is obscured in this image, the horizon glows with a 360-degree sunset effect, synonymous with collage.
Not far away in Hamilton, Ontario, eclipse chasers flocked to the edge of Lake Ontario to witness the spectacle of the totality. Here, the partial phase of the eclipse begins above a haze of clouds, as seen through a pair of orange-tinted solar eclipse glasses.
The sun's corona shines in the dark sky during a total eclipse over Glover, Vermont.
No less excited was the dog Mizar, who was waiting for the total solar eclipse at the Sacre Coeur de Beauvoir Reserve in Sherbrooke, Canada.
The eclipse bathed the sky in ethereal light over Torreon, Mexico.
The moon's descent onto the sun created the right conditions for this moody image, captured through cloud cover, in Brady, Texas.
In this image from Eagle Pass, Texas, only the faintest ray of sunlight remains
Under a cover of clouds, the moon obscures the sun below the angel above the Princes' Gates in Toronto.
Partial solar eclipse seen through cloud cover in Niagara Falls, New York.
The moon passes in front of the sun behind the Washington Monument during a partial solar eclipse in Washington, D.C.
A partial solar eclipse is stunning among billowing clouds above the dome of the US Capitol Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
The sun reaches full moon in Houlton, Maine, before passing over New Brunswick, then Newfoundland and out into the Atlantic Ocean.
“Typical beer advocate. Future teen idol. Unapologetic tv practitioner. Music trailblazer.”
More Stories
Boeing May Not Be Able to Operate Starliner Before Space Station Is Destroyed
How did black holes get so big and so fast? The answer lies in the darkness
UNC student to become youngest woman to cross space on Blue Origin