Stunning images of solar eclipse will take your breath away
In a major cosmic event on Monday, August 21, the United States (US) witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I. Thousands took to streets and observatories to appreciate this eclipse that temporarily left cities and towns across Oregon to South Carolina in darkness.
The extent of the eclipse was such that observers reported seeing Venus and some stars in Depoe Bay, Oregon – one of the first places to fall under the shadow – during the middle of the day.
The eclipse set many records, and if reports are to be believed, it was the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history, documented by satellites and high-altitude balloons and watched on Earth through telescopes, cameras and cardboard-frame protective eyeglasses.
Nasa, which streamed a special programme for the eclipse, reported 4.4 million people watched its coverage midway through the eclipse – the biggest live stream event in the space agency's history. Its scientists said this total eclipse cast a shadow that would race 4,200 km through 14 states, entering near Lincoln City, Oregon, moving diagonally across the heartland over Casper, Wyoming, Carbondale, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, and then exiting near Charleston, South Carolina.
How it looked from space
NASA, the European Space Agency, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station also caught breathtaking images and videos of the cosmic event. These space agencies gathered images of the eclipse that even puts to shame the view down from earth.
First images of partial #solareclipse from space by our Proba-2 satellite are here! https://t.co/lQBkzdszEj #Eclipse2017 #SolarEclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/QO9TifBhTt
— ESA Science (@esascience) August 21, 2017
Photographers from Earth also captured the ISS as it crossed in front of the eclipse at a speed of about 17,000 miles per hour.
Station transits sun at 5 miles per second in video taken at 1,500 frames per second with high-speed camera from Banner, Wyoming. pic.twitter.com/x6NNvCc0Af
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) August 21, 2017
President Trump looks the eclipse in the eye
Taking the opportunity to give the internet some new material for memes, US President Donald Trump threw caution to the winds as he looked directly at the sun. The POTUS ignored all warnings from experts as images and videos showed him taking off his glasses for a brief moment and looking at the sun, before eventually giving up and putting them back on.
In defiance of rational thought which warns against looking directly at the sun during eclipses, Trump risked permanent eye damage to remind the internet of exactly why he is a never ending source of meme material.
Someone shouts "don't look" as Pres. Trump looks up without eclipse glasses on as solar eclipse passes over D.C. https://t.co/5ft70fm30R pic.twitter.com/0lAkuzF9RZ
— ABC News (@ABC) August 21, 2017
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. ????#SolarEclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/GKeTKjItjQ
— Tennessee (@TEN_GOP) August 21, 2017
Melania is me and Donald is my mom when we're in public and we see someone we know. pic.twitter.com/O9bwChGoKT
— Danielle Butcher (@DaniSButcher) August 21, 2017
Well, it was quite a sight!