Anticipation is building in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada ahead of Monday’s total solar eclipse, which will have millions of people looking skyward to marvel at the rare spectacle.

The drama occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, fully blocking the sun’s face and turning day into night.

What looks like a fiery ring would be seen outlining the moon.

Beginning over the Pacific Ocean, the eclipse would move into northern Mexico and cross the U.S. in the afternoon from Texas north-eastwards to Maine.

It would then graze southeast Canada before coming to an end over the North Atlantic.

The narrow corridor included major cities such as Dallas, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Montreal, with a total population of more than 30 million people.

Eclipse chasers have travelled from far and wide to experience what the U.S. space agency, NASA, called `cosmic masterpiece.’

“Eclipses have a special power. They move people to feel a kind of reverence for the beauty of our universe,’’ NASA chief Bill Nelson said at a recent news conference.

The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. occurred in August 2017, in Mexico in 1991, and Canada in 1979.

After Monday, North America would not see another until 2044.

However, the weather outlook is not particularly good.

For the U.S., clouds, rain, and storms were predicted in many regions, with the best views expected in the north-eastern states.

Scientists have also teamed up with NASA to observe, record, and measure the solar eclipse using aeroplanes and balloons.

Mexico’s Pacific coast would be the first to see the eclipse at 11:07 a.m. (2009 GMT), NASA said. 

(dpa/NAN)