By Chris Skeldon 
credit, Getty Images
credit, Getty Images
credit, Reuters
The moon's shadow first touched Earth's surface in the Pacific Ocean before crossing Mexico, turning daylight into darkness as people gathered to watch the phenomenon.
The eclipse crossed the border into the United States, bringing darkness to large areas of Texas, including the cities of Austin and Dallas.
Every 18 months, a total solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth, but this phenomenon usually occurs in uninhabited or remote areas.
But this time it passed through several large cities in three countries.
Although neither Washington, D.C., nor New York City is in the path of the total eclipse, both will see about 90% of the sun covered by the moon.
Many people took to the streets or climbed to the top of skyscrapers to enjoy the view.
Many who viewed the eclipse enjoyed a dazzling display of the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, which is usually obscured by its intense glow.
Some were lucky enough to see solar prominences – essentially bubbles of plasma shooting from the surface of a star – while the Sun was behind the Moon.
Astronomers in Canada were the last to catch a glimpse of this phenomenon, before the eclipse crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was lost to view.
development: Becky Rush.
Image credits: Bobby Godin/USA Today/Reuters, Stan Honda/Getty Images, Hector Vivas/Getty Images, Henry Romero/Reuters, Fernando Llano/AP, Mario Tama/Getty Images, Kevin Deitch/Getty Images, Andrew Kelly/Reuters, Eduardo Munoz/Reuters, David de Delgado/Reuters, Kent Nishimura/Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, Jeff Overs/BBC, Peter Zai/Getty Images, Noam Galai/Getty Images, Miguel Calero/Shutterstock.