Preparations for the eclipse in America. Photo: ANP / EPA / ADAM DAVIS
People in Mexico, the United States and Canada will be able to see a total solar eclipse on Monday. Then the moon stands right between the sun and the earth, blocking sunlight and dimming the sky a bit. No eclipse can be seen in the Netherlands.
The eclipse starts around 5:42pm Dutch time, but not much will be visible then. Also, that shadow falls on the Pacific Ocean. The eclipse will make landfall at 8:07pm Dutch time. Then the sun sets on the west coast of Mexico.
It will be followed by Dallas and Indianapolis in the US and Montreal in Canada. People sometimes visit several places along the route to view the solar eclipse, protected by dark glasses. The eclipse ends over the Atlantic Ocean at 9:55pm Dutch time.
During a solar eclipse, the Moon stands between the Sun and the Earth and casts a shadow over the Earth. A total eclipse can be seen in a specific area. A partial eclipse can be seen in a large area around it.
read more: How does a solar eclipse occur?
If you want to watch the solar eclipse, check out our colleagues' live broadcast from Weirplaza tonight.
There will be another solar eclipse later this year on October 2, but it will only be visible in southern Chile and Argentina.
The last total eclipse visible from the Netherlands occurred in May 1715, and the next in October 2135. There was a solar eclipse in 1999, but it was not total in the Netherlands.
