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North America goes into raptures over full solar eclipse

April 09, 2024 10:44 IST

Millions of people across parts of Mexico, Canada, and the United States watched the rare total solar eclipse on Monday. The path of totality, a tiny area where the Moon completely obscures the Sun, crossed across cities and sent the United States into a frenzy.

IMAGE: NASA posted this image showing the progress of the solar eclipse, with lyrics from Xavier Rudd's song 'Follow the Sun': Follow, follow the Sun / And which way the wind blows / When this day is done. All Photographs: NASA/X 

NASA has shared a captivating live stream on its official broadcast channel on YouTube showing the solar eclipse. For the first time in nearly a century, the western and northern regions of New York State saw a total eclipse.

 

The Mexican beachside resort town of Mazatlan was the first major viewing spot in North America. The partial eclipse began in southern Texas near Eagle Pass on the southern border with Mexico, marking the start of the eclipse in the United States.

The total solar eclipse of 2024 was a historic celestial event because it won't be visible across the contiguous US again until August 2044 and an annular eclipse -- which happens when the Moon can't completely blocks the Sun-- won't appear across this part of the world again until 2046.

IMAGE: This is the first time in more than 800 years that Indianapolis is experiencing this celestial event, posted NASA.

One of the amazing side-effects of the eclipse is its ability to change the weather -- but it has its limits, reported CNN.

Changes to temperature, wind speed and humidity occur as the Moon crosses in front of the Sun and casts a shadow on Earth's surface.

In the path of totality, temperatures drop by around 10 degrees; additionally, it also start to feel more humid and winds and cloud coverage could drop.

Scientists understand the concept of how solar material flows from the sun in a better way by observing the sun during eclipses, according to CNN.

IMAGE: Ever seen a total solar #eclipse from space? Here is our astronauts' view from the International Space Station, posted NASA.

Charged particles known as plasma create space weather that interacts with an upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere, called the ionosphere.

Many low-Earth orbit satellites and radio waves operate in the ionosphere, which means dynamic space weather has an impact on GPS and long-distance radio communications.

Source: ANI