Watch live on Monday as the moon completely covers the sun

The total solar eclipse will take place Monday at various times across North America. Can’t make it to one of the hot spots where thousands are expected to gather to observe the moment the moon completely obscures the sun? Then watch this livestream instead. The feed will stream live from 2 to 5 p.m. AT. It will feature the clearest telescope images from Torreon, Mexico, or Junction, Texas, depending on weather on the day of the event. Totality is scheduled to occur at 4:17 p.m. AT in Torreon and it is expected at 4:32 p.m. AT in Junction. The image will switch between close ups and wider shots for three hours as the moon gradually passes over the sun.

What to know about the total solar eclipse on April 8

Monday’s total solar eclipse will make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast and cross into Texas and 14 other U.S. states, before exiting over Canada. It will last almost twice as long, with an even wider audience, than the total solar eclipse that stretched coast-to-coast in the U.S. in 2017.

Practically everyone on the continent will get to see a partial eclipse, but the best show will be in the path of totality, where the moon will completely shroud the sun for up to four minutes and 28 seconds. It’s a spectacle normally unfolding in remote corners of the globe but this time passing over major cities like Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Hamilton, Niagara Falls and Kingston. An estimated 44 million people live within the path of totality, with another couple hundred million within 320 kilometres, guaranteeing the continent’s biggest eclipse crowd ever.

Here’s more to know about Monday’s celestial showstopper.

WHAT’S A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE?

The moon will line up perfectly between the Earth and the sun at midday, blotting out the sunlight. The full eclipse will last longer than usual because the moon will be just 360,000 kilometres from Earth, one of the year’s closest approaches. The closer the moon is to Earth, the bigger it is in the sky from our perspective, resulting in an especially long and intense period of sun-blocked darkness. Totality will last the longest over Mexico at four minutes, 28 seconds. Elsewhere along the track, like in Syracuse, N.Y., totality will last just one and a half minutes.

WHAT’S THE ECLIPSE PATH?

The moon’s shadow will slice a diagonal line from the southwest to the northeast across North America, briefly plunging communities along the track into darkness. Totality will enter the continent at Mazatlan, Mexico, and exit at Newfoundland. In between, 15 U.S. states from Texas to Maine will experience totality, including snippets of Tennessee and Michigan. It will be a repeat for Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Carbondale, Ill., which were also in prime position for 2017’s total solar eclipse.

WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER ON APRIL 8?

Some who hope to witness Monday’s total solar eclipse may see the sun obscured by clouds instead of by the moon.

There’s still plenty of time for forecasts to change, but meteorologists predict that eclipse day storms could blanket parts of the path, which stretches from Mexico and Texas through Maine and parts of Canada.

Clouds are expected in much of the eclipse’s path Monday thanks to storms that are moving across the central U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard says the northeast U.S. currently has the best chance of clear skies, along with parts of Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Canada, too, may have only light cloud cover that won’t significantly impact the view. Higher, thinner clouds should still allow eclipse-goers to glimpse the sun, while lower, thicker clouds could obscure the spectacle entirely.

Parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas are questionable. Northeast Texas, Chenard says, “could kind of go either way at this point.” Mexico may also have low to mid-level cloud cover.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center will update the eclipse forecast daily until Monday. If it’s cloudy or rained out, you can still watch the live feed.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU SEE DURING THE SOLAR ECLIPSE?

During totality, you may be able to spot a comet along with four planets, if you’re lucky. Jupiter will be to the left of the sun and Venus to the right. Saturn and Mars will be to the right of Venus, but fainter. The solar system’s three other planets will be in the vicinity, but virtually impossible to see with the naked eye. Comet 12P/pons-brooks is swinging past Earth, as it does every 71 years. Still faint, it will be positioned near Jupiter during the eclipse. But it will take a sudden outburst of dust and gas to see this socalled devil comet without a telescope, according to Anita Cochran of the University of Texas at Austin. But don’t waste time looking for it. “There is lots to see and not that long a time,” she said via email.

WHEN’S THE NEXT ONE?

After Monday, the next total solar eclipse won’t occur until 2026. But it will graze the top of the world, dipping into Greenland, Iceland and Spain. The next one in 2027 will march across Spain and northern Africa, with totality lasting an incredible six and a half minutes. North Americans will have to wait until 2033 for another total solar eclipse, but it will be limited to Alaska. In 2044, Western Canada, Montana and North Dakota will have front-row seats. And in 2045, the U.S. will once again experience a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse.