<p>If you&#8217;re currently residing somewhere in the continental United States, chances are you were able to glimpse at least a partial solar eclipse today as the Moon passed in front of the Sun (and we hope you <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/if-your-eyes-hurt-after-watching-the-solar-eclipse-here-s-what-you-need-to-know">used eye protection</a>, too).</p>
<p>But while most of us were living in the moment and enjoying the view, some very talented people managed to capture some truly unique images of the event that really put our place in the Solar System into perspective.</p>
<p>Below are some of our favorite images that show the eclipse in a new and utterly unforgettable way.</p>
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<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYERJ3XhSZ9/" target="_blank">The solar eclipse, as seen from an airplane flying above Oregon. (: Alaska Airlines) #solareclipse #solareclipse2017</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by CNN (@cnn) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2017-08-21T18:56:34+00:00">Aug 21, 2017 at 11:56am PDT</time></p>
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<p><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script></p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7">
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<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYEWI4CFTjs/" target="_blank">Best view in the house&#8230; it took 4 days of planning and hard work to capture this shot. My girlfriend @martinatib and good friend @thistommysmith climbed the route twice, in scorching heat, to nail the positioning. But we nailed it!</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by Ted Hesser (@tedhesser) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2017-08-21T19:40:07+00:00">Aug 21, 2017 at 12:40pm PDT</time></p>
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<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYE7G6TFfTm/" target="_blank">Eclipse as seen from Oregon by @JasmanMander follow @ifyouhigh</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by ifyouhigh (@ifyouhigh) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2017-08-22T01:03:10+00:00">Aug 21, 2017 at 6:03pm PDT</time></p>
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<p><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><br />
<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" frameborder="0" height="462" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto.php%3Ffbid%3D10209842692839257%26set%3Da.1035022751082.2006339.1090853875%26type%3D3&amp;width=500" width="500"></iframe></p>
<p>Many photographers took their gorgeous shots straight to Flickr Creative Commons, and we&#8217;re so thankful.<br />
<a title="Detail of prominences / solar flares." href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paranoidroid/36584746641"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/36584746641_7176045bb3_z.jpg" alt="Detail of prominences / solar flares." width="640" height="427" /></a></p>
<p>Above, Matt Drobnik caught the incredible shot in Charleston, South Carolina.</p>
<p><a title="Eclipse 2017" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkfun/36553154202"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4419/36553154202_ce848e1fab_z.jpg" alt="Eclipse 2017" width="640" height="427" /></a></p>
<p>We also love this moody perspective of SparkFun Electronics view from Niwot, Colorado.</p>
<p><a title="IMG_3899" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drobnikm/36586459681"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4392/36586459681_7c2278f129_z.jpg" alt="IMG_3899" width="640" height="512" /></a></p>
<p>The detail of the solar flares is just so spectacular! Taken by moshen in Madras, Oregon.</p>
<p><a title="Eclipse Bread (Solar projection 15x)" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheila_sund/36327315910"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4355/36327315910_20ac397c8c_z.jpg" alt="Eclipse Bread (Solar projection 15x)" width="637" height="640" /></a></p>
<p>But you don&#8217;t just have to look at the sky directly to take a cool shot.</p>
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<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYFElYyBNy5/" target="_blank">Happy to be home for the eclipse and view it with my kids and my parents! Weren&#8217;t those the little crescent shadows fabulous? . . #eclipse #eclipseshadows #eclipse2017</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by elizabeth I photographer (@elizfoto) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2017-08-22T02:25:58+00:00">Aug 21, 2017 at 7:25pm PDT</time></p>
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<p><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script></p>
<p>Above, Sheila Sund from Oregon demonstrates the novel &#8216;bread slice&#8217; method; below, you can see two great examples of eclipse shadows seen through tree leaves.<br />
<a title="Eclipse shadows" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tracyleephoto/36722235445"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4343/36722235445_e207f8c278_z.jpg" alt="Eclipse shadows" width="640" height="427" /></a></p>
<p>And then, of course, there&#8217;s the incredibly special view directly from space:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Millions of people saw <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eclipse2017?src=hash">#Eclipse2017</a> but only six people saw the umbra, or the moon&#39;s shadow, over the United States from space today. <a href="https://t.co/hMgMC5MgRh">pic.twitter.com/hMgMC5MgRh</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/899728331364458496">August 21, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>And last but not least, the International Space Station <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-just-recorded-the-international-space-station-flying-in-front-of-the-solar-eclipse">passing in front of the Sun</a> during the eclipse.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s the moon, sunspots AND the station in front of the sun. <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA">@NASA</a> photographer captures station transiting sun during <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eclipse2017?src=hash">#Eclipse2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/hAVRINz0bv">pic.twitter.com/hAVRINz0bv</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) <a href="https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/899679364920389632">August 21, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Mind = blown.</p>


2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Hard Science

Check out some of the most unique images from around the web that show the eclipse in a new and utterly unforgettable way.

12 Unique Photos of The Eclipse You Really Need to See

These amazing shots prove you didn’t need a fancy camera to capture the eclipse in an unforgettable way.

The when, where, and how for watching Monday’s solar eclipse.

The when, where, and how for watching Monday's solar eclipse.

Are You Ready for the Solar Eclipse? Here’s How to Prepare.

<p>One. More. Year. Quick! Where will you be this time next year? Specifically, on <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEmono/TSE2017/TSE2017.html">August 21<sup>st</sup>, 2017</a>?</p>
<p>We’re now just about one year out from a total solar eclipse gracing the United States from coast to coast&#8230;the first since 1979.</p>
<p>If you think one year out is too early to start planning, well, umbraphiles (those who chase the shadow of the Moon worldwide) have been planning to catch this one now for over a decade.</p>
<p>If you are worried about optimal viewing, you can join the <a href="http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy-cast-solar-eclipse-escape-2017/?utm_content=buffer75e70&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">Solar Eclipse Escape in 2017</a>. You&#8217;ll have to get yourself to St. Louis, but you&#8217;ll get a bus pass to the viewing, a host of cool science activities, and some neat eclipse gear.</p>
<p>Check out the event details <a href="http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy-cast-solar-eclipse-escape-2017/?utm_content=buffer75e70&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">here</a>.</p>
<figure id="attachment_50358" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/moon.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-50358" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/moon.gif" alt="The shadow of the 2016 solar eclipse (the dark spot on the right). Image credit: JAXA/JMA/Himawari/CIMSS." width="1024" height="583" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The shadow of the 2016 solar eclipse (the dark spot on the right). Image credit: JAXA/JMA/Himawari/CIMSS.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The last time a total solar eclipse made landfall over a U.S. state was Hawaii on July 11<sup>th</sup>, 1991. Alas, the path of totality hasn’t touched down over the contiguous ‘Lower 48’ United States since February 26<sup>th</sup>, 1979.</p>
<p>And you have to go all the way back over nearly a century to June 8<sup>th</sup>, 1918 to find an eclipse that exclusively crossed the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast.</p>
<figure id="attachment_50359" style="width: 1100px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/total-eclipse.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-50359" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/total-eclipse.jpg" alt="Credit: " width="1100" height="847" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Credit:</figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4314">Totality for the August 21<sup>st</sup>, 2017 eclipse</a> crosses over many major cities, including Columbia South Carolina, Nashville, St. Louis and Salem, Oregon. The inner shadow of the Moon touches on 15 states as it races across the U.S. in just over an hour and a half. The length of totality is about 2 minutes in duration as the shadow makes landfall near Lincoln City, Oregon, reaches a maximum duration of 2 minutes, 42 seconds very near Carbondale, Illinois, and shrinks back down to 2 minutes and 35 seconds as the shadow heads back out to sea over Charleston, South Carolina.</p>
<p>The eclipse will be a late morning affair in the northwest, occurring at high noon over western Nebraska, and early afternoon to the east. And it must be noted, that getting yourself to a viewing location is a must.</p>
<p>Lots of fascinating projects are afoot leading up to the 2017 total solar eclipse, including The <a href="http://www.eclipsemegamovie.org/MoreAbouttheProject.aspx">Eclipse MegaMovie Project</a> to produce a complete video documentary of the eclipse path, plans by a student group to fly and observe the <a href="http://eclipse.montana.edu/about/">eclipse from balloons</a> during totality, proposals to replicate famous eclipse experiments and more. It’s also worth noting that the bright star Regulus will sit just one degree from the Sun during totality</p>
<p>As an interesting aside, the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon in diameter, but the Moon is 400 times closer. We’ve actually heard this fact tossed out as evidence for intelligent design, though it’s just a happy celestial circumstance of our present era. In fact, annular eclipses are now slightly more common than totals in our current epoch, and will continue to become more so as the Moon slowly recedes from the Earth. Just under a billion years ago, the <a href="http://astroguyz.com/2012/05/14/astroevent-a-pacific-spanning-annular-eclipse/">very first annular eclipse of the Sun</a> as seen from the Earth occurred, and 1.4 billion years hence, the Earth will witness one last brief total eclipse.</p>
<p>But you won’t have to wait that long. Don’t miss the greatest show in the universe next August!</p>
<p>-Check out Michael Zeiler’s (@EclipseMaps) <a href="http://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/blog/2014/11/28/10-foot-map-of-the-great-american-eclipse">10-foot long strip map of the entire eclipse path</a>.</p>
<p>-Eclipses, both lunar and solar have played a <a href="http://listosaur.com/history/12-famous-eclipses-in-history/">role in history</a> as well.</p>
<p>-Curious about eclipses in time and space? Read our eclipse-fueled sci-fi tales, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Exeligmos-David-Dickinson-ebook/dp/B00JH79DZU/ref=la_B00JH2909O_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1471339838&amp;sr=1-4#nav-subnav"><em>Exeligmos</em></a>,<em> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Winds-Syzygy-David-Dickinson-ebook/dp/B018PR1U4E/ref=la_B00JH2909O_1_5?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1471339838&amp;sr=1-5#nav-subnav">The Syzygy Gambit</a> </em>and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shadowfall-David-Dickinson-ebook/dp/B00NJ5PLHK/ref=la_B00JH2909O_1_8?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1471339729&amp;sr=1-8#nav-subnav"><em>Shadowfall</em></a>, with <a href="https://www.amazon.com/David-Dickinson/e/B00JH2909O">more to come</a>!</p>


Off World

Total eclipse 2017 is just under a year away. Here are all the details on the event, and a host of cool expeditions that you can partake in. 

/Total Eclipse

Hard Science

12 Unique Photos of The Eclipse You Really Need to See

Hard Science

Are You Ready for the Solar Eclipse? Here’s How to Prepare.

Off World

How To See The First Total Solar Eclipse in the US Since 1979

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