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Total solar eclipse of 8th April 2024 from Dallas, Texas, USA. This is a just before totality. The bright features at upper left are Baily's Beads, which are caused by light shining through valleys on the Moon's surface. Also visible are prominences (pink), which are loops of plasma extending from the Sun's surface. Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes across the Sun as seen from Earth. This eclipse tracked a narrow band across North America from Mexico's Pacific Coast, north east over the contiguous United States to Southern Ontario, Canada, and the coast of Newfoundland. Solar eclipses usually occur less than once a year, and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/NASA/Keegan Barber)