2024-04-08 23:36:42
This content was published on April 9, 2024 – 01:36
(Keystone-ATS) A rare total eclipse crossed the northern American continent on Monday, from Mexico to Canada via the United States. This spectacular celestial event was admired by millions of people.
In city following city, the cries of amazed crowds continued as they were plunged into darkness in broad daylight, according to NASA’s live video broadcast.
The event, which also represented an economic opportunity for the regions on its trajectory, and a scientific opportunity for researchers studying the Sun in particular, began at 8:07 p.m. (Swiss time) on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was in the seaside city of Mazatlan, where he looked forward to an “unforgettable day.”
Ideal weather in Montreal
The path of the eclipse then crossed 15 American states – from Texas to Maine – before ending its course in eastern Canada. In total, the Moon’s shadow took regarding an hour and a half to travel over the three countries.
In the United States alone, more than 30 million people lived in the area where the total eclipse was visible, lasting a few minutes at most. For weeks, American authorities have hammered home safety instructions, including the need to wear special glasses to look at the Sun, under penalty of serious eye damage.
In Montreal, the weather was on the contrary ideal and tens of thousands of people gathered in a large city park. “It was even better than I thought,” commented Lomie Sérey Larose, 26 years old.
Complete hotels
Total eclipses occur when the Moon comes exactly between the Earth and the Sun, temporarily blocking the light of our star in broad daylight. The Sun is regarding 400 times larger than the Moon, but also 400 times further away, and the two stars therefore appear to be of a similar size.
Outside the 185-kilometer-wide total eclipse band, residents were able to see a partial eclipse. This was, for example, the case in Mexico City and New York, where crowds of residents came out to admire the spectacle.
Numerous gatherings and festivals took place across the United States on Monday to take advantage of the influx of visitors, including from abroad. Along the route of totality, many hotels had been fully booked for months.
During the last total eclipse in the United States, in 2017, fewer cities were on the correct trajectory. This time, Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland in particular were on the path to total eclipse. It was also admired from the air: some airlines had planned flights along the route of darkness, for which tickets were snapped up.
In the International Space Station, astronauts were able to observe the Moon’s shadow running across the Earth’s surface. Even Donald Trump tried to capitalize on the occasion: the former president published a video in which not the Moon, but his face in profile, covers the Sun.
Small rockets launched
The event was also scientific. Three small sounding rockets were launched by NASA before, during and just following the eclipse, from Virginia in the eastern United States. The goal: to measure changes caused by darkness in the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere.
The solar corona, the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, becomes particularly clearly visible during an eclipse. It has therefore been carefully observed: this is where solar flares occur, but our star is currently close to its peak of activity (unlike in 2017).
An eclipse can also cause unusual behavior in animals, sensitive to changes in light and temperature – something some researchers have looked into. The next total eclipse visible in the United States (excluding Alaska) will take place in 2044. Before that, a total eclipse will take place in Spain, in 2026.
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