Perfection: Total solar eclipse 2024

For about four minutes Monday, April 8, the moon and the sun were on virtually equal terms from certain vantage points on Earth, including Southeast Missouri.

A total eclipse passed overhead at about 2 p.m., and the region was along the “path of totality”, meaning the moon covered the sun, with only an outline of the sun — the corona — visible. During those four minutes, nighttime prevailed, the temperature cooled and throngs marveled at the unusual celestial sight.

Just as quickly as midday darkened, the sun ploddingly began to regain its brightful, dominant place in Earth’s sky.

Total solar eclipse as seen Monday, April 8, in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian

Men, women and children cheered the spectacle of its return.

Hours before the eclipse, seas of people floated through the region, seeking their viewing destination.

In Cape Girardeau, downtown was abuzz for Old Town Cape’s block party, Southeast Missouri State University held its own event to cap its sesquicentennial year and SportsPlex was ground zero for many.

A crowd watches the eclipse Monday, April 8, from Ivers Square in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian

Three locations in Jackson hosted residents and visitors.

Other events drew gatherings in Sikeston, Chaffee, Poplar Bluff and elsewhere.

Visitors came from as far away as Australia and Lebanon and states from the nation’s coastal shining seas — Florida, Oregon, North Carolina and Idaho, among them.

Weather conditions could not have been more conducive to outdoor watch parties. With only an occasional wispy cloud in the sky, temperatures pushed into the mid-70s.