Eclipse Mania Grips North America
Eclipse mania gripped North America on Monday as a breathtaking celestial spectacle captivated tens of millions of people, offering a rare blend of scientific interest, commercial opportunity, and daytime partying.
Celestial Spectacle Across North America
The moon’s shadow plunged the Pacific coast of Mexico into total darkness at 11:07 a.m. (local time), then swept across the United States at supersonic speed, returning to the ocean over Canada’s Atlantic coast just under an hour-and-a-half after landfall.
Path of Totality Festivities
Festivals, viewing parties, and even mass weddings took place along the eclipse’s “path of totality,” where the sun’s corona glowed from behind the moon in a display that left crowds awestruck.
“It was spectacular. I had never witnessed anything like it,” said Paulina Nava, a 36-year-old resident of the beachside Mexican city of Mazatlan.
Impact and Reactions
Thousands of miles away in downtown Montreal, Canada, office workers spilled out of skyscrapers to snap pictures with their eclipse glasses held to their phones.
The path of totality was 115 miles wide and home to nearly 32 million Americans, with an additional 150 million living less than 200 miles from the strip, said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Events and Celebrations
Hotels and short-term rentals in prime viewing locations were booked solid for months in advance across several states, including Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, and Maine.
Ingram, Texas, at the Stonehenge II park — a replica of the prehistoric monument in England — eclipse watchers gathered from around the world, undeterred by overcast conditions.
In Russellville, Arkansas, more than 300 couples reportedly exchanged vows at “A Total Eclipse of the Heart” mass wedding ceremony.
Scientific Observations
The eclipse was also a windfall for scientists. NASA launched a trio of sounding rockets before, during, and just after the eclipse to measure changes caused by the sudden darkness to the ionosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere important for long-distance radio communication.
It also offered a golden opportunity to study the sun’s corona, the outer layer of its atmosphere which is normally hidden by the blinding light of the surface.
Startling animal behavior has been noted during past eclipses, such as roosters crowing as they believe it is dawn when the darkness ends.
Individuals also exhibit more “prosocial” feelings toward each other in the aftermath of the shared experience.