The Mexican beachside resort town of Mazatlan was the first major viewing spot along the “path of totality” in North America. Thousands of people gathered along the coastal promenade, setting themselves up in deck chairs with solar-safe eyewear as an orchestra played the Star Wars movie theme. The crowds burst into cheers and applause and the eclipse reached totality.

Where clear skies prevail, observers along the direct path of the eclipse were being treated to the rare spectacle of the moon appearing as a dark orb creeping in front of the sun, briefly blocking out all but a brilliant halo of light, or corona, around, the sun’s outer edge.

The period of totality, lasting up to four-and-a-half minutes depending the observer’s location, was ushered in by a number of other eerie eclipse effects. A partial eclipse, in which the moon obscures only a portion of the sun, was unfolding across most of the continental United States.

At Mazatlan, Lourdes Corro, 43, traveled 10 hours by car to get there.

“The last one I saw was when I was nine years old,” Corro said.

“There are a few clouds but we can still see the sun.”

Eclipse fans are gathering in numerous places along the “path of totality,” which stretches from Mexico’s Pacific Coast through Texas and across 14 other US states into Canada.

In upstate New York, at the Frontier Town campground in North Hudson, children ran around wearing eclipse T-shirts, while parents set up tables, chairs and beer coolers.

Connecticut residents Bob and Teresa Love were stretched out in the cargo bed of their pickup truck, eating pastries and hoping the forecasted clouds hold off long enough to not obscure the spectacle.

“I’m trying not to get too excited because of weather, just trying to keep expectations real,” said Teresa, 49.

“Some people say it’s life-changing. I don’t know if it’s going to be life-changing, but I think it’s going to be cool to see.”

At up to four minutes and 28 seconds, the total eclipse of 2024 surpasses the duration of the one that traversed the United States from coast to coast in 2017. That one clocked in at up to two minutes and 42 seconds. According to NASA, total eclipses can last anywhere from 10 seconds to about seven-and-a-half minutes.

Some other cities along the path of totality include: San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; both Niagara Falls, New York, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, site of the famed waterfall, and Montreal, Quebec.

About 32 million people in the United States live within the path of totality, with federal officials predicting another five million people will have traveled to be there. Countless eclipse-watching events were being convened at bars, stadiums, fairgrounds and parks along the path of totality.