Total solar eclipse frenzy grips North America

Millions of people in the path of a solar eclipse across North America are gazing towards the heavens as the moon completely blocks the sun for more than four minutes in some areas.

The town of Mazatlan on Mexico’s west coast was one of the first places to witness the full eclipse on Monday, with thousands of people gathering there to look skywards.

Lourdes Corro, 43, was one of the visitors who arrived in Mazatlan especially for the eclipse: She travelled 10 hours by car to get there.

“The last one I saw was when I was 9 years old,” Corro told the Reuters news agency. “There are a few clouds, but we can still see the sun.”

Beyond Mazatlan, the eclipse was visible, weather permitting, along a path starting in Mexico and then crossing through the United States and into Canada.

Eclipse fans across North American have travelled to places along the “path of totality”, where the moon will fully blot out the sun. They include the city of Fredericksburg in central Texas, where the total eclipse occurred shortly after 1:30pm (18:30 GMT).

That is where Michael Zeiler, a veteran eclipse chaser from New Mexico who has already witnessed 11 total eclipses across the globe, set himself up to view the latest one.

“First-time viewers of a total eclipse will be gobsmacked by the sight,” Zeiler said. “It will be a peak life experience.”

At up to four minutes and 28 seconds, this one will last longer than the total eclipse that streaked across parts of the US in 2017, which clocked in at up to two minutes and 42 seconds.

The four-minute eclipse will be a “data gathering bonanza” for researchers.

“Six hundred high-altitude balloons will be released. A 4km-long kite will point a measuring instrument at the sun. Rockets will launch from an island in Virginia, and jets will take off to fly inside the path of totality — noses open, cameras on.

“With better tools, more smartphones and more research centres under its path, more data will likely be gathered during this total solar eclipse than ever before,” said an eclipse viewer.