Captivating Events from the Total Solar Eclipse and Beyond

Captivating Events from the Total Solar Eclipse and Beyond A total solar eclipse passed over North America on Monday, April 8, 2024, putting on a dramatic show that was visible to millions. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, completely blocking the sun's face. Those within the path of totality, including 32 million people in the United States, saw the eclipse in its full splendor. People outside the path were still able to see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon blocks only part of the sun's face. Many people traveled to the path of totality to attend special viewing parties. Those along the very center line of the path saw an eclipse that lasted between 3½ and 4 minutes, according to NASA. For many Americans, this was the last chance to see a total solar eclipse for 20 years. The next one won't be visible across the contiguous United States until August 2044. Key Headlines from the Past Week Head coach Dawn Staley, center, and the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA women's basketball national championship in Cleveland on Sunday, April 7. The No. 1 overall seed defeated Iowa 87-75 to win the school's third championship, completing a perfect 38-0 season. Aaron Doster/USA Today Sports/Reuters People watch volcanic vortex rings emerge from a new crater on Mt. Etna in Sicily, Italy, on Friday, April 5. Giuseppe Di Stefano/AP Young Rwandans hold flameless candles during a vigil commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in Kigali on Sunday, April 7. Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images A newly married couple views the eclipse after a mass wedding in Russellville, Arkansas, on Monday, April 8. They were one of 358 couples who tied the knot at an "Elope at the Eclipse" event. Mario Tama/Getty Images A woman clears rubble in her daughter's apartment, which was damaged from shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 4. AFP/Getty Images UConn guard Tristen Newton attempts a layup over Purdue's Zach Edey during the NCAA men's basketball national championship game on Monday, April 8, in Phoenix, Arizona. UConn defeated Purdue 75-60 to win its second consecutive title, becoming the first back-to-back champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007. Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos/Getty Images A Muslim man playfully throws a child into the air at the end of Eid al-Fitr prayers in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday, April 10. The Eid al-Fitr holiday marks the end of Ramadan. Andreea Alexandru/AP Gun reform activists gather in the gallery of the Tennessee state Senate in Nashville on Tuesday, April 9. The protesters came to oppose a bill that would authorize teachers and staff in K-12 public schools to carry concealed handguns on school grounds. The Senate passed SB 1325 in a 26-5 vote as the noisy, sign-waving opponents urged its demise and just over a year after a fatal shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville where three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed. The measure would require approval by the state House before moving to the desk of Republican Gov. Bill Lee, whose office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Firefighter Jeremy Perez works the scene where a tornado damaged several businesses in Katy, Texas, on Wednesday, April 10. Dangerous storms moved through parts of the southeast this week, spawning tornadoes and flash flood emergencies. Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle/AP Lava emerges from a volcano near Grindavik, Iceland, on Saturday, April 6. Marco di Marco/AP Family and supporters of hostages held in Gaza scream and hold up their hands, painted red to symbolize blood, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, April 7, to call for the captives' release and mark six months since the October 7 Hamas attacks. Ariel Schalit/AP Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne fly off a ladder during a match at WWE WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6. WWE/Getty Images Members of the Abu Draz family mourn relatives killed amid Israel's bombardment of Gaza at their house in Rafah, Gaza, on Thursday, April 4. Fatima Shbair/AP People take photos under crabapple blossoms in Handan, in China's Hebei province, on Monday, April 8. AFP/Getty Images President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listen to the National Anthem during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 10. Biden heralded the "monumental alliance between our two great democracies" at an official arrival ceremony for Kishida, who was making a state visit to the United States. Alex Brandon/AP Ukrainian servicemen screw the wheel of a T-30 cannon to move it to a new position at a frontline in Ukraine's Donetsk region on Saturday, April 6. Alex Babenko/AP A house partially hangs over a cliff edge in Trimingham, England, on Monday, April 8, following rapid coastal erosion. Carl Court/Getty Images Gwen Rychlik gets a tattoo of a moon and cowboy hat at a popup tattoo parlor in Del Rio, Texas, on Saturday, April 6. Eclipse lovers from far and wide gathered in South Texas earlier this week to get a view of the total solar eclipse. Sarah Silbiger for CNN Fans comfort Real Mallorca defender Pablo Maffeo at the end of the Spanish Copa del Rey final football match between Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Mallorca in Seville, Spain, on Saturday, April 6. James Crumbley, his attorney Mariell Lehman, Jennifer Crumbley and her attorney Shannon Smith, sit in court for sentencing in Pontiac, Michigan, on Tuesday, April 9. The Crumbleys were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of four Oxford High School students who were fatally shot by their son. They are the first parents to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by their child. Election officials sort through ballots at a counting station in Seoul, South Korea, after voting closed on Wednesday, April 10. South Korea's liberal opposition parties scored a landslide victory in the parliamentary election. Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images An activist at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center holds a bat in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 6. The organization rehabilitates thousands of bats rescued in cities across Ukraine and returns them to the wild. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters People participate in the Taizhou Jiangyan Qintong Boat Festival at the Qinhu National Wetland Park in Taizhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Saturday, April 6. AFP/Getty Images UConn players celebrate after defeating Purdue in the NCAA Tournament championship game in Glendale, Arizona, on Monday, April 8. Brynn Anderson/AP A newborn female Sumatran elephant stands next to her mother, a 20-year-old elephant named Puja, at the Sebanga Elephant Conservation Center in Bengkalis, in Indonesia's Riau province, on Saturday, April 6. Wahyudi/AFP/Getty Images Muslims take selfies with their families after offering Eid al-Fitr prayer at Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, April 11.