The highly anticipated solar eclipse will take place in parts of 15 US states on Monday and will first appear along the Pacific coast of Mexico around 11:09 a.m. PT.
About 34 million people are expected to be in the path of totality, where the eclipse will be fully visible, stretching across Texas and into New England as the day progresses.
Exact event time will vary by state and time zone.
The lone star state will be the first to see the moon completely block the face of the sun around 1:32 pm CT and will last approximately three minutes and 15 seconds.
About 34 million people are expected to be in the path of totality, where the eclipse will be fully visible, which will then spread across Texas and into New England as the day progresses.
The celestial event will end its run on Main around 3:32 p.m. ET
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon and sun line up perfectly and the moon is close enough to us to cover the entire sun, from our perspective.
While Texas will be the first state to see the celestial event, Oklahoma will be next around 1:45 pm CT, followed by Arkansas at 1:51 pm ET and Missouri about five minutes later.
Illinois is next in line in the path of totality, with Carbondale experiencing the solar eclipse around 1:59 p.m. CT and Paducah, Kentucky, about a minute later.
And Evansville, Indiana is expected at 2:06 pm CT and then Ohio is expected to witness around 3:13 pm ET.
State officials have estimated that up to 556,000 people will visit the Buckeye State.
Erie, Pennsylvania, is next, with the solar eclipse scheduled for 3:16 p.m. ET, followed by Buffalo, New York, around 3:18 p.m. ET.
The road will continue north, arriving in Burlington, Vermont at 3:26 pm ET, Lancaster, New Hampshire at 3:27 pm ET, and Caribou, Maine at 3:32 pm ET.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon and sun line up perfectly and the moon is close enough to us to cover the entire sun, from our perspective. While Texas will be the first state to see the celestial event, Oklahoma will be next around 1:45 pm CT, followed by Arkansas at 1:51 pm ET and Missouri about five minutes later.
Tourists await the solar eclipse as far north as Niagara Falls State Park in New York, and many have already set out to secure the best viewing spot.
The route then enters Canada in Ontario and passes through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, leaving mainland North America via the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. Newfoundland time. .
Some major cities and their metropolitan areas lie within or near the path of totality. Some of these include: Mazatlán and Torreón in Mexico; San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Fort Worth and Dallas in Texas; Little Rock in Arkansas; St. Louis in Missouri; Louisville in Kentucky; Indianapolis in Indiana; Dayton, Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland in Ohio; Detroit in Michigan; Erie in Pennsylvania; Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse in New York; and Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal in Canada.
In places along the path of totality, people will be able to see the sun’s corona (the star’s outer atmosphere) that is not normally visible due to sunlight.
Illinois (pictured) is in the path of totality, and Carbondale will experience the solar eclipse around 1:59 pm CT.
The eclipse will appear in Arkansas at 1:51 p.m. Visitors add pins to a map to show where they are visiting from
People watching the path of totality from the outside will see a partial eclipse in which the moon obscures most, but not all, of the sun’s face.
Of course, a cloudy day could spoil the view.
After this, the next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States will not occur until 2044.
A total solar eclipse develops in several different stages, the first begins as a partial eclipse phase when the moon begins to pass between the Earth and the sun, partially blocking it and leaving the sun to appear crescent-shaped.
In the next phase of Baily’s Pearls, spots of sunlight shine around the edges of the moon due to the irregular lunar topography, producing small pearls of light.
In the diamond ring phase, a single bright spot appears along the lunar edge, even as the sun’s atmosphere leaves a ring of light around the moon. The effect resembles the appearance of a diamond ring. This phenomenon precedes totality.
After totality, the other phases repeat as the moon continues to move forward in its path until the eclipse ends.