MESQUITE, Texas (AP) — Millions of spectators along a narrow corridor stretching from Mexico to the US to Canada eagerly awaited Monday’s celestial sensation — a total eclipse of the sun.

According to a news report from The Associated Press, the spectacle promises to be North America’s biggest eclipse crowd ever, thanks to the densely populated path and the lure of more than four minutes of midday darkness in Texas and other choice spots.

Almost everyone in North America was guaranteed at least a partial eclipse, weather permitting,” AP News said.

The show gets underway in the Pacific shortly before noon.

For Monday’s full eclipse, the moon is expected to slip right in front of the sun, entirely blocking it. The phenomenon should last up to four minutes, 28 seconds. AP News said that is almost twice as long as it was during the US coast-to-coast eclipse seven years ago.

The report also shared that eye protection is needed with proper eclipse glasses and filters to look at the sun, except when it ducks completely out of sight during an eclipse.