MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. An over five-hour-long solar eclipse will take place on Monday, with people in Mexico having the opportunity to see the Moon block the Sun for the longest period, four and a half minutes, experts from the Moscow Planetarium told TASS.

The eclipse will also be visible from North America and certain islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Russians won’t be able to see the eclipse.

"The 1.029 magnitude peak of the eclipse, with its total phase lasting for four minutes and 28 seconds, will be visible in northern Mexico. <...> It will be possible to see the solar corona with the unaided eye [during the total phase of the eclipse], which will flare up like a radiant halo around the solar disk blocked out by the Moon. The stars and planets near the Sun will also be visible," the astronomers said.

The solar eclipse, together with partial eclipses, will last from 6:42 p.m. until 11:52 p.m. Moscow time (3:42 p.m. - 8:52 p.m. GMT). The Moon will come as close as 353,321 kilometers to the Earth, with the Moon’s apparent diameter being 1.0566 times larger than that of the Sun, which is why the Moon will completely block the sunlight.

"The total eclipse will also include a partial one that will be visible on both sides of the totality’s path in the Moon's penumbral shadow. <...> The partial eclipse will begin in the central part of the Pacific Ocean at 6:42 p.m. Moscow time, ending in the eastern part of the Atlantic at 11:52 p.m. Moscow time. Weather permitting, these phases will be visible in Central and North America (except for Alaska), the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and a small part of Western Europe," the astronomers specified.

Lunar and solar eclipses take place every six months, two weeks apart. Lunar eclipses happen when there is a full moon, while solar ones occur on the new moon. This happens when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are lined up. When the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, a lunar eclipse takes place, and when the Moon is in the middle, a solar eclipse occurs.