New York City, Tri-State experience the solar eclipse
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A midday darkness fell across New York City and the Tri-State area as the solar eclipse arrived at 3:25 p.m. on Monday.
Eclipse mania brought droves of people to Central Park and the Edge Observation Deck in New York City to witness the celestial event.
The eclipse began at 2:10 Monday afternoon as the moon covered a small sliver of the sun. By 3:25 p.m., darkness covered the city.
That's when nearly 90% of the sun was covered, with only a slim crescent shining through.
Although New York City was predicted to get significant cloud cover, it turned out to be a fair viewing experience for spectators amid the high clouds, as meteorologist Dani Beckstrom predicted on Eyewitness News This Morning.
City officials urged New Yorkers to take precautions before the eclipse, urging people to avoid looking at the sun without certified glasses, as it can cause permanent eye damage.
The show got underway in the Pacific before noon EDT. As the darkness of totality reached the Mexican resort city of Mazatlán, the faces of spectators were illuminated only by the screens of their cellphones.
During Monday's full eclipse, the moon slipped right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The resulting twilight, with only the sun's outer atmosphere or corona visible, would be long enough for birds and other animals to fall silent, and for planets, stars and maybe even a comet to pop out.
The out-of-sync darkness lasted up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That's almost twice as long as it was during the U.S. coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago because the moon is closer to Earth. It will be another 21 years before the U.S. sees another total solar eclipse on this scale.
It took just 1 hour, 40 minutes for the moon's shadow to race more than 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) across the continent.
The path of totality - approximately 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide - encompassed several major cities this time, including Dallas; Indianapolis; Cleveland; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal.
An estimated 44 million people live within the track, with a couple hundred million more within 200 miles (320 kilometers).
WATCH | CeFaan Kim has more from Times Square:
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