A total solar eclipse crosses North America
The most beautiful photo of the year? Millions of Americans photographed the total eclipse that crossed the United States on Monday, April 8th, a spectacular phenomenon that plunged the day into darkness. One of them, Kendall Rust, was able to capture one of the most viral images of the day.
His snapshot, posted on Facebook, was shared and liked thousands of times in just a few hours. It shows the Sun perfectly hidden by the Moon, with the light of the star accompanying a commercial airplane.
The scene took place above the city of Jonesboro, Arkansas, a state in the central-eastern United States. « What an incredible experience »! wrote the photographer.
The event began at 6:00 p.m. on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was in the coastal city of Mazatlan, where he celebrated an « unforgettable day ».
In the United States alone, more than 30 million people lived in the area where the total eclipse was visible for a maximum of a few minutes.
American authorities have been emphasizing safety instructions for weeks, including the necessary wearing of special glasses to look at the Sun, under penalty of serious eye damage. Among the iconic locations where the eclipse will be visible are also Niagara Falls.
The eclipse was also admired from the air: some airlines had scheduled flights along the path of darkness, with tickets selling out quickly. Even more impressively, SpaceX unveiled images of the eclipse seen from space via one of its Starlink satellites.
Total eclipses occur when the Moon is positioned exactly between the Earth and the Sun, temporarily blocking the light of our star during daylight hours. The Sun is approximately 400 times larger than the Moon, but it is also about 400 times farther away. As a result, both celestial bodies appear to be roughly the same size.
