Residents in North America look to the sky for a rare total solar eclipse

A major golf tournament ground to a halt. Schools emptied of students. And thousands of people across North America turned their eyes to the sky, to watch a rare celestial event.

On Monday, parts of Mexico, Canada and the United States were treated to a total solar eclipse, a phenomenon that will not arise for another two decades years.

Full total eclipses are not uncommon, exactly: They happen once every 18 months or so, when the moon passes in front of the sun, blotting out its light.

But most solar eclipses happen where people can’t see them — in isolated stretches of the ocean, for instance. Monday’s total solar eclipse, therefore, offered a relatively rare chance for scientists and star-gazers alike to bask in the shadow cast by the moon.

The last time a total solar eclipse happened in North America was in 2017. The next opportunity for North Americans will come in 2044 and 2045, though other regions around the world will get their own chance sooner.