Solar eclipse 2017: The pictures you have to see

22 August 2017

A composite image of the total solar eclipse seen from the Lowell Observatory Solar Eclipse Experience August 21, 2017 in Madras, Oregon. — Image caption,
A composite image of what the total eclipse looked like from the Lowell Observatory in Madras, Oregon

Americans gazed upwards in their millions on Monday, as a total solar eclipse swept the country.

It was the first such eclipse to go from the west to east coasts of the US in 99 years.

From schoolchildren in Missouri to mounted patrol officers in Idaho, the nation was transfixed by the sight of the Moon drifting in front of the Sun, and blocking its light.

Students at the Jennings School District view the solar eclipse with glasses donated by Mastercard on August 21, 2017 in St Louis, Missouri.

The Madison County Sheriff's Mounted Patrol watch the eclipse atop horses on Menan Butte on August 21, 2017 in Menan, Idaho.

Far from the crowds on Earth, just six people saw the umbra, or the Moon's shadow, from space.

International Space Station (ISS) astronauts had a clear view as they orbited above the US from an altitude of 250 miles (402km). They crossed the path of the eclipse three times.

As millions of people across the United States experienced a total eclipse as the umbra, or moon's shadow passed over them, only six people witnessed the umbra from space. Viewing the eclipse from orbit were NASA's Randy Bresnik, Jack Fischer and Peggy Whitson, ESA (European Space Agency's) Paolo Nespoli, and Roscosmos' Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy. The space station crossed the path of the eclipse three times as it orbited above the continental United States at an altitude of 250 miles.

Meanwhile the BBC's James Cook had a front-row seat as he chased the Moon's shadow at 40,000ft.

Solar eclipse seen from an Alaska Airlines flight, 21 August 2017

Warnings had been made about eye safety in the build-up to the eclipse, with people told they should not look at the Sun directly with the naked eye, and instead wear special protective eyewear.

Most people appeared to heed this advice, though what some placed over their eyes may not have done much to protect them.

A boy looks at the partial eclipse of the sun from a beach in Chilmark, Massachusetts, USA, 21 August 2017 — Image caption,
A boy wearing protective eyewear looks at the solar eclipse from a beach in Chilmark, Massachusetts

In Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, where the solar eclipse was partially visible, this man made glasses from a plastic bottle.

A man uses glasses he made from a plastic bottle to look the solar eclipse that was partially visible in Port-au-Prince, on August 21, 2017. The solar eclipse in Haiti was only partially visible, around a 73% in the north of the country, and around a 70% in the capital.

While in Havana, Cuba, a street performer took his chances.

A street performer looks towards the sky as enthusiasts gather in Old Havana for the partial solar eclipse in Cuba August 21, 2017.

Others chose to project the eclipse, instead of trying to view it directly.

An image of the solar eclipse is projected onto a hand in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 21 August 2017

The US President, for his part, did not set the best example. (Though he and the First Lady were also pictured wearing protective eyewear.)

US President Donald Trump, with First Lady Melania Trump at his side, looks up at the partial solar eclipse from the balcony of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2017

But Andrew, a dog belonging to a BBC News reader in Nashville, Tennessee, was well-equipped for sky-gazing.

In the town of Greenville, South Carolina, one set of parents made a last-minute decision to name their daughter, born hours earlier, in honour of the eclipse that cast a spell over their country.

Eclipse Alizabeth Eubanks weighed six pounds and three ounces, according to Greenville Memorial Hospital.

Meet Eclipse! She was born at 8:04 a.m. at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She's 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 inches long. Mom and dad made a last-minute decision to name her Eclipse this morning.

The singer Bonnie Tyler helped mark the moment aboard a cruise ship as it sailed through the path of totality.

She sang a shorter two minute, 40 second version of her 1983 hit Total Eclipse of the Heart to match the longest duration of totality that was visible, near Carbondale, Illinois

Despite being decades old, the song cruised straight to the top of the iTunes charts.