Total solar eclipse 2024

Ashley Smith and Gary Knebel have been together for 15 years and planned to get married in 2017 but their plans were put on pause when Smith’s mother passed away. Now, the eclipse will be the backdrop to their vows.

“It's been on the back burner for a while with my mom passing and stuff. I was taking it pretty hard and now that this eclipse, I feel like my mom is, this is my mom telling me do this. It's time. It's ready,” Smith said.

Smith and Knebel are one of the 358 couples preparing to tie the knot at the “Elope at the Eclipse” event in Russellville, Arkansas, where a mass wedding ceremony will take place Monday afternoon, concluding just before totality darkens the skies overhead.

While Smith said she was looking most forward to the “I do,” Knebel said he looking forward to the moment of darkness. 

Some scientists gathered in Torreón, Mexico, told CNN this is the first time they are experiencing the "real" country instead of the touristy locations.

That's because Planetarium Torreón is one of three good spots in the city to watch the solar eclipse, CNN's Gustavo Valdés reported.

"It's a deserted area," Valdés said. "There's no urban pollution, there's no artificial lighting. So it's going to be really, really dark."

So scientists are thronging this location, Valdés said

"I've talked to scientists who said they've traveled the world to see other eclipses. They've come to Cancun or Baja California for different events, but they said this is the first time they get to experience real Mexico. This not a tourist destination. It's an industrial agriculture area," Valdés explained.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, people of all ages could be seen preparing for the solar eclipse by using the shade for a picnic at the UNAM University.

CNN's Sara Pérez Arjona contributed reporting to this post.

Yes, if you didn't pick up a pair of certified eclipse glasses, you can make your own pinhole projector to view the solar eclipse.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Here’s how to make your very own pinhole projector:

What this step-by-step guide on how to make it:

The partial eclipse is beginning in southern Texas near Eagle Pass on the southern border with Mexico, marking the start of the eclipse in the United States.

The total eclipse will begin at the border at 2:27 p.m. ET, lasting until 2:32 p.m. ET.

The partial eclipse will begin in Kerrville, Texas in only 4 minutes, at 1:14 p.m. EDT.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Josh Dobbs is hoping to catch his first sighting of a total solar eclipse today in Cleveland, Ohio. And with the morning rain and clouds clearing for a beautifully sunny day against the backdrop of Lake Eerie, his chances of seeing the highly anticipated celestial event just went up. 

It’s been on his schedule for months, especially after hearing about it while playing for the Cleveland Browns last year. Dobbs, a self-described aviation nerd from the time he was a child, pursued his love of math and science — and football — from the age of 5.

At the University of Tennessee, Dobbs earned a degree in aerospace engineering, garnering the nickname “Astro Dobbs” along the way. Now, he’s most famously known as the “Passtronaut.”

Dobbs has continued his love for aerospace engineering by repeatedly partnering with NASA, working on the mobile launcher for the Artemis I mission in 2021 and the lunar soil-mining RASSOR, or Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot. 

“It not only affects the future of human civilization, but our everyday lives on Earth with the research that’s occurring in space,” Dobbs told CNN outside of the Great Lakes Science Center, referring to experiments taking place 225 miles above Earth on the International Space Station.

Football is still number one for the 29-year-old quarterback, but off the field, he’s eager to keep partnering with NASA and to see how the agency pushes the boundaries of space exploration. And one day, Dobbs hopes to make his dream of being the “Passtronaut” come to life by throwing a pass on the moon.

The solar eclipse has reached land, and some people in Mexico are getting their first look at today's dramatic show. A partial solar eclipse is now visible in Mazatlan, on Mexico's Pacific coast.

The moon will slowly move in front of the sun, and totality — when the moon completely blocks the sun — is expected at 2:07 p.m. ET. Totality will last for about four minutes.

Remember: If you're viewing the eclipse today, wear certified eclipse glasses or use a handheld solar viewer.

A satellite view captured the eclipse underway in the Pacific Ocean as it draws nearer to starting in North America.

Another view from a satellite focused over North America shows where clouds could cause problems for eclipse watchers.

Storminess and low clouds over the South won't part in time for the eclipse. Some obstructive clouds could give way to more scattered ones in parts of northern Texas, but cloudiness will still prevail. Conditions also look grim for viewing in the eastern Great Lakes and Northern Plains.

Bethany Ehlmann, a professor of planetary science at Caltech, will be catching her first total solar eclipse in Fredericksburg, Texas, where the nonprofit Planetary Society is gathered for the big show. (Ehlmann is also the president of the organization.)

"I think I've just prepared myself to be present and to be in the moment — not thinking about the gazillion other things that are happening in the world," Ehlmann told CNN.

But her mind may briefly wander to the surface of Mars, where eclipses are can be visible every single day — about three times a day, Ehlmann said.

The two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, are too small to offer a total eclipse like the ones we can see here on Earth. But they do routinely pass in front of the sun, keeping some of its rays from reaching the red planet.

Those eclipses are crucial for Ehlmann's day job: She's the lead investigator for NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission, a small satellite set to scour Mars' surface for water after it launches later this year.

Ehlmann said she's kept her eyes on countless eclipses on Mars.

The reason: When Mars' moons block some sun rays it can cause power concerns for Martian spacecraft that rely on solar energy to function.

So engineers and scientists like Ehlmann design vehicles around them.

"All of the mission's power and battery systems are optimized to survive in eclipse," Ehlmann said of the Lunar Trailblazer.

Passengers on special path-of-totality flights offered by commercial airlines are banking on seeing the total solar eclipse from above the clouds that have blanketed parts of the heartland.

CNN correspondent Pete Muntean is boarding Delta Air Lines flight 1010 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Bound for Detroit, the flight plan includes special "turns in totality" for passengers to view the eclipse’s so-called "diamond ring" out of the Airbus A320’s 14-inch windows.

Delta says flight 1010 is nearly sold out. Monday morning, seats available for the flight were listed at $950. Only aisle and middle seats in the main cabin were available.

Announced on February 26, Delta 1010 is the airline’s second path-of-totality flight after its first such flight, Delta 1218 from Austin, sold out in less than 24 hours. Both flights are planned to arrive in Detroit simultaneously followed by a party at the gate. United and Southwest Airlines are offering similar flights.