First came the darkening skies, then the crescent-shaped shadows on the ground, and finally an eruption of cheers by crowds that gathered Saturday along the narrow path of a rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun. It was a spectacular show for millions of people across the Americas as the moon moved into place and the ring formed. Unlike a total solar eclipse, the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun during a ring of fire eclipse. When the moon lines up between Earth and the sun, it leaves a bright, blazing border. Saturday’s path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas in the U.S., with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. Next: Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Much of the rest of the Western Hemisphere gets a partial eclipse. Viewing all depends on clear skies — part of the U.S. path could see clouds. NASA and other groups livestreamed it. In Mexico, hundreds of people filed the garden of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City to watch the eclipse. Some people peered through box projectors, while others looked through telescopes and special glasses. In southern Colombia, the Tatacoa desert played host to astronomers helping a group of visually impaired people experience the eclipse through raised maps and temperature changes as the moon blots out the sun. In the U.S., the event brought eclipse watchers to remote corners of the country to try to get the best view possible. At Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah, enthusiasts hit the trails before sunrise to stake out their preferred spots among the red rock hoodoos. With the ring of fire in full form, cheers echoed through the canyons of the park. For the small towns and cities along the path, there was a mix of excitement, worries about the weather and concerns they’d be overwhelmed by visitors flocking to see the annular solar eclipse. In Eugene, Oregon, oohs and ahs combined with groans of disappointment as the eclipse was intermittently visible, the sun’s light poking through the cloud cover from behind the moon only at times. The entire eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — is two-and-a-half to three hours long at any given spot. The ring of fire portion lasts from three to five minutes, depending on location. Next April, a total solar eclipse will crisscross the U.S. in the opposite direction. That one will begin in Mexico and go from Texas to New England before ending in eastern Canada. The next ring of fire eclipse is in October next year at the southernmost tip of South America. Antarctica gets one in 2026. It will be 2039 before another ring of fire is visible in the U.S., and Alaska will be the only state in its direct path.