By Wonderwall.com Editors
10:09am PDT, Apr 16, 2024
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Millions of people across a swath of North America saw the moon pass directly in front of the sun, completely blocking its face to darken the sky, in a total solar eclipse on April 8. The so-called "path of totality," where the sun is totally blocked rather than partially blocked by the moon, was 115 miles wide for what's been dubbed the Great North American eclipse of 2024.
Couples at a festival in Arkansas timed their "I do's" to the totality phase in a mass wedding. Parks in Indiana, where this photo was taken, filled with visitors seeking access to mid-day darkness. Onlookers outside the totality path also donned protective eyewear and gazed up at the rare celestial event, which entered the United States at the Texas-Mexico border then traveled through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, according to NASA.
Join us as we take a look at the best pictures from the eclipse, starting with this shot of the sky during the totality phase above Bloomington, Indiana.
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The solar eclipse is seen above the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on April 8, 2024. A refraction from the camera's lens is visible in the lower part of the frame.
The next total solar eclipse that will be visible from a large part of North America won't come around until 2044. That eclipse will only be total in portions of North Dakota, Montana and Northern Canada.
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The moon begins to partially eclipse the sun during a solar eclipse, as seen from the esplanade of the Luis Enrique Erro Planetarium in Mexico City, on April 8, 2024.
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Couples view the solar eclipse during totality at a mass wedding at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival in Russellville, Arkansas, on April 8, 2024.
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The sun disappears behind the moon during the Great North American Eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, on April 8, 2024.
Millions of people flocked to areas across North America in the "path of totality" in order to see the moon pass in between the sun and the Earth, appearing to block the sun.
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The moon eclipses the sun, as viewed from the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, on April 8, 2024. Other cities in the path of totality nationwide also experienced an influx of tourists.
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The sun is seen reaching the totality phase during the eclipse in Houlton, Maine, on April 8, 2024.
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Visitors watch the solar eclipse move into totality during an eclipse viewing event in Bloomington, Indiana, on April 8, 2024.
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A bride and groom view the solar eclipse amid a darkened sky after marrying at a mass wedding at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival in Russellville, Arkansas, on April 8, 2024.
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A partial solar eclipse is seen through clouds in Niagara Falls, New York, on April 8, 2024.
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Spectators smile while watching the eclipse move into the totality phase during a viewing event in Bloomington, Indiana, on April 8, 2024.
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The "diamond ring" is visible during the total solar eclipse seen through clouds in Niagara Falls, New York, on April 8, 2024.
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The moon eclipses the sun as seen from Fort Worth, Texas, on April 8, 2024.
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Members of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team look up at the total solar eclipse before their home opener against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 8, 2024. Cleveland was in the "path of totality" for the 2024 solar eclipse.
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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer uses eclipse viewing glasses to look up at the solar eclipse from his office balcony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on April 8, 2024.
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Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm use glasses to view the eclipse during a practice round prior to the 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on April 8, 2024.
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The moon is silhouetted near a sun spot as it passes in front of the sun during a partial solar eclipse in Los Angeles on April 8, 2024.
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In this NASA handout photo, taken in Dallas, prominences from the sun are shown during a total solar eclipse that swept across a narrow portion of North America on April 8, 2024. The eclipse could be seen from Mexico's Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent and in parts of Central America and Europe.
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In this composite of seven photographs, the moon travels across the sun into totality creating the diamond ring effect during a total solar eclipse in Bloomington, Indiana, on April 8, 2024.
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A total solar eclipse is seen from Mazatlan, Mexico, on April 8, 2024.
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In this image from NASA, Bailey's Beads appear just before the totality phase of the eclipse aobve Dallas on April 8, 2024.
A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the North American continent from Mexico's Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of Central America and Europe.
