As it happened: Solar Eclipse 2017

Summary

A total solar eclipse will sweep across the US, from Oregon to South Carolina
It's the first such eclipse to go from the west to east coasts of the US in 100 years
Experts warn never to look directly at the Sun with the naked eye
Several cities are near or on the path of totality, including St Louis, Nashville and Charleston
The eclipse makes landfall in Oregon at 17:16 GMT and leaves the US in South Carolina 18:48 GMT

Live Reporting

Jonathan Amos, Paul Rincon, Max Matza and Vicky Baker

Don't damage your camerapublished at 18:01 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Remember to protect your eyes, even more than your phone!
The solar rays not only can damage the human eye, but can also inflict permanent damage on your camera if you don't use the right filter.
The US Department of the Interior have published a guide, external to how to photograph the solar eclipse safely.
Step one: Use a solar filter, such as your eclipse glasses, over your camera lens.
Step two: Use a telephoto lens, otherwise the sun will be a small dot in your photo.
Step three: Tweet it to the BBC!
And be sure to never look directly at the sun without those specialised glasses
Minds are already being blownpublished at 18:00 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville is tweeting from Seattle today. He's already excited.
Things have only just begun, Quentin.
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And, as a seasoned war correspondent, he is fully prepared, of course.
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We're nearly there...published at 18:00 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Image source, NASA
How does the man in the Moon cut his hair?published at 17:49 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Full Moons are known to make people behave strangely, but can the same be said about a solar eclipse?
It seems like whoever runs the Twitter feed for US Fish and Wildlife is feeling a bit bizarre today.
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Get ready, folks!published at 17:42 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
A partial eclipse is visible now on the West Coast. But we're a little way off totality reaching Oregon. That occurs at 10:16 local time (17:16 GMT; 18:16 BST).
Image source, NASA
The 1918 eclipsepublished at 17:37 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The last eclipse with a totality crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the US occurred on 8 June 1918. At the time, World War I was raging and the Spanish flu pandemic was spreading worldwide.
The total solar eclipse was a welcome diversion from the conflict, disease and political upheaval occurring around the world, as astronomers came out en force to watch the day turn to darkness.
The path of totality clipped Washington State before tracing a diagonal path down through the West and the southern states, leaving the landmass of the United States on the Florida coast.
The eclipse of 1918 might have been a great opportunity to test Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity (Einstein put forward the theory in 1915). Einstein's theory should mean that the relative positions of stars in the sky would appear to be shifted by the Sun's gravitational field during the eclipse.
Testing Einstein's theories, external
But it remained untested until the UK's Arthur Eddington performed the first experimental test of the theory during an eclipse in 1919 over the island of Principe, off the west coast of Africa. Eddington showed that Einstein was right - helping propel the German theorist to household name status.
Celebrating Eddington's eclipse
Bonnie Tyler: the voice of an eclipsepublished at 17:35 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Just a reminder that Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler is going to sing her 1980s hit Total Eclipse of the Heart at the exact time of the total eclipse, while on a cruise ship.
CNN just interviewed her, external, asking one of the big questions of the day:
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"Heartbreak is the total eclipse of the heart," she said, before giving US audience a sample of her voice.
She also adds that at over eight minutes long, her song is significantly longer than the nearly two-and-a-half minute astronomical event.
She told viewers: "It's an evergreen song, all year through, not just on the eclipse."
She'll be performing onboard the Royal Caribbean's Total Eclipse Cruise, which departed from Orlando, Florida, yesterday.
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Ready for the first glimpsepublished at 17:35 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The BBC's James Cook is on a flight over the Pacific Ocean, where he and a group of journalists will become the first to view the eclipse in its totality.
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Listen to Nasa's catpublished at 17:34 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Nasa can't say this enough: protect your eyes if you want to watch the eclipse.
And here's the BBC's reminder on how to check if your eclipse glasses are safe.
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The view around the USpublished at 17:33 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Image source, EPA
Image caption,
The view from the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
In South Carolina's Isle of Palms beach-goers hope those clouds will dissipate.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
A coach bus unloads a group of British tourists in Kentucky
Where's Trump watching?published at 17:20 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
This just in from a White House official:
"The President will be watching the total eclipse from the Truman Balcony with the First Lady today."
Journalists will be allowed a brief glimpse of the president, so we can hopefully expect to see Trump wearing some cardboard eclipse glasses!
It's beginning!published at 17:19 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Eclipse time!
We still have some time before the Sun totally is eclipsed by the Moon.
It will cut a 115km-wide swath across the US, from Sea to Shining Sea.
Image caption,
The BBC's Laura Trevelyan sent us this shot from Wyoming.
Got goats?published at 17:12 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
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Take a lead from the Kansas City policepublished at 17:11 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
There are concerns that some drivers will have (somehow) missed the news that an eclipse is coming and will be at the wheel when it takes place. The sudden darkness could be a shock and distraction that causes an accident, so the advice is to pull over and take a break.
Kansas City Police are not going to be caught out. They are set.
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Vice-president Mike Pence hosts watch partypublished at 17:09 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Vice-president Mike Pence will be hosting students from the Cornerstone Schools of Washington DC at his residence for a watch party.
The residence, located on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory, is at the highest elevation in the US capital city.
The facility is still used to observe the Solar System, with scientists coming from around the US to study astronomical data, external.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The telescope at the Naval Observatory
A stadium of eager eclipse-watcherspublished at 16:55 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The BBC's Anthony Zurcher is mingling with the swelling crowds in South Carolina.
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Are you ready, Oregon?published at 16:47 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
Just under one hour 20 minutes until Oregon becomes the first state to experience the total eclipse!
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Goofy tweetspublished at 16:46 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The tweet-o-sphere is having a field day, of course.
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Advice from the Faroe Islandspublished at 16:45 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The Faroe Islands, which experienced a total solar eclipse in 2015, have sent this advice to American viewers.
Media caption,
How to watch a total solar eclipse
Sun's up in Illinoispublished at 16:45 British Summer Time 21 August 2017
The sun has risen in Illinois, one of the states that will also be experiencing another eclipse in 2024.
The tiny town of Makanda, Illinois (population 600) will be experiencing the longest duration of totality, with a total of 2 minutes, 41 seconds of darkness.
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