Total solar eclipse begins over Pacific Ocean

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press aerospace writer

MESQUITE, Texas (AP) — Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the U.S. to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation — a total eclipse of the sun — even as forecasters called for clouds.

The best weather was expected at the tail end of the eclipse in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as New Brunswick and Newfoundland in Canada.

It promised to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots. Almost everyone in North America was guaranteed at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting. The show got underway in the Pacific shortly before noon EDT with totality expected to sweep North America over the next few hours.

Tawhid Rana, of Midland, Mich., hold his daughter Thia, as she views the sun through a telescope at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

People wait to watch a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

An amateur astronomer prepares her telescope a day before a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Groups of tourists streamed into Niagara Falls State Park to view the solar eclipse, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

A sign in the town square greets visitors in Paris, Texas, Sunday, April 7, 2024. Paris is one of many small towns along the route where the eclipse can be observd from. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Sara Luneau, 57, poses at Jay Peak ski resort in Jay, Vermont, Monday, April 8, 2024. Luneau and her 16-year-old niece are among the lucky 100 or so skiers and snowboarders who will get a chance to ride the tram to the top of the mountain and view the eclipse from nearly 4,000 feet elevation. (AP Photo/Susan Haigh)

Eclipse glasses are shown at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Synthia Nguyen and Jen Cerna from Washington, DC, claimed a prime spot on the lawn along the rapids in Niagara Falls State Park, to view the solar eclipse, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Niagara Falls, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

Vicki and Craig Musser, of Vernon Hills, Ill. take a selfie with a total eclipse themed race car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

MAZATLAN, MEXICO – APRIL 08: A person uses two sets of glasses to see the eclipse on April 08, 2024 in Mazatlan, Mexico. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the “path of totality” in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

MAZATLAN, MEXICO – APRIL 08: A woman puts on her glasses to see the eclipse on April 08, 2024 in Mazatlan, Mexico. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the “path of totality” in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS – APRIL 08: A youngster looks at the sun through binoculars at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival on April 8, 2024 in Russellville, Arkansas. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the “path of totality” in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS – APRIL 08: Bride and groom Kylee and Michael Rice prepare to take a hot air balloon ride before a planned mass wedding of over 200 couples at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival on April 8, 2024 in Russellville, Arkansas. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the “path of totality” in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

RUSSELLVILLE, ARKANSAS – APRIL 08: Bride and groom Randy and Michelle Weller kiss before a planned mass wedding of over 200 couples at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival on April 8, 2024 in Russellville, Arkansas. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the “path of totality” in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

People gather on ‘The Edge’ observation deck ahead of a total solar eclipse across North America, in New York City on April 8, 2024. This year’s path of totality is 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide and home to nearly 32 million Americans, with an additional 150 million living less than 200 miles from the strip. The next total solar eclipse that can be seen from a large part of North America won’t come around until 2044. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

TORREON, MEXICO – APRIL 8: A man sets up his telescope to see the eclipse at Bosque Urbano on April 8, 2024 in Torreon, Mexico. Millions of people have flocked to areas across North America that are in the path of totality in order to experience a total solar eclipse. During the event, the moon will pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

People gather at the ‘The Edge’ observation deck ahead of a total solar eclipse across North America, in New York City on April 8, 2024. This year’s path of totality is 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide and home to nearly 32 million Americans, with an additional 150 million living less than 200 miles from the strip. The next total solar eclipse that can be seen from a large part of North America won’t come around until 2044. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

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In Texas, the south-central region was locked in clouds, but it was a little bit better to the northeast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Snell.

“Dallas is pretty much a 50-50 shot,” he said.

The cliff-hanging uncertainty added to the drama. But the overcast skies in Mesquite near Dallas didn’t rattle Erin Froneberger, who was in town for business and brought along her eclipse glasses.

“We are always just rushing, rushing, rushing,” she said. “But this is an event that we can just take a moment, a few seconds that it’s going to happen and embrace it.”

Sara Laneau, of Westfield, Vermont, woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to bring her 16-year-old niece to nearby Jay Peak ski resort to catch the eclipse after a morning on the slopes.

“This will be a first from me and an experience of a lifetime,” said Laneau, who was dressed in a purple metallic ski suit with a solar eclipse T-shirt underneath.

At Niagara Falls State Park, tourists streamed in under cloudy skies with wagons, strollers, coolers and lawn chairs. Park officials expected a large crowd at the popular site overlooking the falls.

For Monday’s full eclipse, the moon was due to slip right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona visible, would be long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets, stars and maybe even a comet to pop out.

The out-of-sync darkness lasts up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That’s almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon is closer to Earth. It will be another 21 years before the U.S. sees another total solar eclipse on this scale.

Extending five hours from the first bite out of the sun to the last, Monday’s eclipse begins in the Pacific and makes landfall at Mazatlan, Mexico, before moving into Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 12 other U.S. states in the Midwest, Middle Atlantic and New England, and then Canada. Last stop: Newfoundland, with the eclipse ending in the North Atlantic.

It will take just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon’s shadow to race more than 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) across the continent.

Eye protection is needed with proper eclipse glasses and filters to look at the sun, except when it ducks completely out of sight during an eclipse.

The path of totality — approximately 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide — encompasses 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). Add in all the eclipse chasers, amateur astronomers, scientists and just plain curious, and it’s no wonder the hotels and flights are sold out and the roads jammed.

Experts from NASA and scores of universities are posted along the route, poised to launch research rockets and weather balloons, and conduct experiments. The International Space Station’s seven astronauts also will be on the lookout, 270 miles (435 kilometers) up.

Susan Haigh in Jay, Vermont; Carolyn Thompson in Niagara Falls, New York; and Julie Walker in New York contributed.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.