After crossing Mexico, Texas was the first US state where the total solar eclipse was visible live. In Kerville, thousands gathered to witness the astronomical event reaching totality. The eclipse could also be seen from cities such as Eagle Pass, Dallas, Austin, Rocksprings, Fredericksburg, Killeen, Waco, Hillsboro, Greenville, and Texarkana.
NASA explained the complex calculations and computer programs needed to predict the positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun during eclipses. These astronomical events provide a unique opportunity to study the Earth’s atmosphere under unusual conditions.
Total solar eclipses can last between ten seconds and about seven and a half minutes. The longest total solar eclipse in history will occur on July 16, 2186, lasting seven minutes and 29 seconds. The shortest one happened on February 3, 919 AD, lasting only nine seconds.
The North American region experienced two solar eclipses in less than six months, the annular eclipse in October 2023 and the total eclipse in April 2024. The US won’t see another total solar eclipse until August 2044, while Mexico will have to wait until March 2052.
An estimated 32 million people in the US were in the path of the total solar eclipse, spanning from Texas to Maine. The event concluded in Maine, with the totality reaching Newfoundland at 3:46 p.m. ET before moving onto the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
The total solar eclipse concluded in the United States in Maine at 4:41 p.m. EDT before making its way towards Canadian provinces. The sky darkened over Niagara Falls State Park in New York during the eclipse, with the next visible event for North America set for 2044.