The full force of the moon’s shadow crossed the United States, Mexico and Canada on Monday, as the first total solar eclipse in seven years plunged the day into darkness and reminded all in its path of our planet’s place in the cosmos.
For more than four hours, the silhouette of the moon ate into the yellow orb of the sun, obscuring all but the silvery glow of the corona. The celestial marvel carved a southwest-to-northeast pathacross North America, delighting sky gazers from the beaches of Mexico to the plains of Texas, past the raging waters of Niagara Falls and through the rugged coastline of Newfoundland. There in the city of Gander, gaps in the thick clouds revealed moments of the eclipse’s effects on the horizon before obscuring the sun in the moment of totality.
