It’s spellbinding not only for the lucky ones in the path of total darkness, but also those on the fringes of the moon’s shadow getting a partial glimpse.

The cosmic curtain is about to rise again on the greatest show on Earth: a total solar eclipse that will dazzle tens of millions as it races across North America.

Day will turn into night as the moon perfectly positions itself between Earth and the sun on April 8, temporarily blocking the sunlight. The eclipse will begin in the Pacific, cross into Mexico and then cut through Texas on a northeasterly path through 15 states before heading out over Canada and the North Atlantic.

Totality will last up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds — enough time for the wonder of it all to soak in, weather permitting.

A young shepherd carries a goat as he watches a partial solar eclipse in the village of Bqosta, near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 29, 2006. In Lebanon the Education Ministry ordered all public schools closed for the day with advice to families to keep children indoors during the solar eclipse which started around noon. (AP file photo — Mohammed Zaatari)

“The sight of a total solar eclipse is stunning because the most beautiful celestial object — the sun’s corona — is hidden from us all our lives except for the precious moments of totality,” eclipse mapmaker Michael Zeiler said in an email.

Even scientists like NASA’s Kelly Korreck find themselves in awe.

“There might have been tears of joy the first time,” she said. “To actually experience it was just really a powerful, moving experience.”

While full solar eclipses happen every year or two or three, they’re often in remote locations like the Arctic or Antarctica, the southern tip of South America or the Pacific.

The last time totality crisscrossed the U.S. was in 2017, with totality lasting 2 1/2 minutes. After April, it won’t happen again until 2045, but get set for six full minutes of totality.

Lucy Maphiri, left, and Margaret Makuya watch the total solar eclipse over Shingwedzi camp in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002. (AP file photo — Jon Hrusa)

Shepherd Heinz Greiner watches the beginning of a total solar eclipse near Augsburg, southern Germany, on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1999. A German myth has the cold and lazy male moon, ignoring the fiery passionate female sun during the day most of the time, except for a few bits of passion during an eclipse and then they’d squabble again and the sun would resume shining again, Mark Littmann of the University of Tennessee says. (AP file photo — Frank Boxler)