CHARLESTON, S.C. — The temperature dropped, birds quieted down, crickets chirped, and the stars came out in the middle of the day as a line of darkness raced 2,600 miles across the continent in about 90 minutes Monday, and millions basked in the glory of a total eclipse.
In tiny towns like Glendo, Wyo., and metropolises like Nashville; on dirt roads and superhighways; in modest yards and grand national parks, the nation appeared to hush as the moon stood up to the sun, perfectly blocking its light except for the halo of hot gas that surrounds it.
This was totality, an event that had not happened in the continental United States since 1979 and had not traversed such a broad swath of the country in nearly a century.
Darkness descended in the summer afternoon, Venus appeared in the near-night sky and, in Depoe Bay, Ore., a flock of confused sea gulls began to call out.
Even humans — who knew what was going on — were left to hunt for words to describe the spectacle. “I’m in awe,’’ whispered Ibeth Arriaga, who had come from Los Angeles to Depoe Bay, where, despite some fog, the moon’s slip across the sun was just visible.
With 200 million people within a day’s drive from the path of totality, towns and parks from coast to coast saw huge crowds of eclipse-watchers.
It was the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history, with many Americans staking out prime viewing spots to watch.
Kim Kniseley drove overnight from Roanoke, Va., arriving in Madisonville, Tenn., before dawn to get a place at Kefauver Park. He said he could have stayed home in Roanoke and seen a partial eclipse of 90 percent, but that would have been like ‘‘going to a rock concert and you’re standing in the parking lot.’’
The path of totality passed through 14 states, entering near Lincoln City, Ore., at 1:16 p.m. EDT, moving over Casper, Wyo.; Carbondale, Ill.; and then exiting near Charleston, S.C. at 2:47 p.m.
The corridor of deep shadow created when the sun was completely obscured was just 60 to 70 miles wide. It began in Oregon and then traveled diagonally across the Midwest to South Carolina, with darkness from the totality lasting only about two to three wondrous minutes in any one spot.
NASA solar physicist Alex Young said the last time earthlings had a connection like this to the heavens was during man’s first flight to the moon, on Apollo 8 in 1968. The first, famous Earthrise photo came from that mission and, like this eclipse, showed us ‘‘we are part of something bigger.’’
The space agency said 4.4 million people were watching its TV coverage midway through the eclipse, the biggest livestream event in its history.
The moon hasn’t thrown this much shade at the United States since 1918, during the nation’s last coast-to-coast total eclipse. The last total solar eclipse over the country was in 1979, but only five states in the Northwest experienced total darkness.
The next total solar eclipse in the United States will sweep from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024. The next coast-to-coast one will not be until 2045.
