Solar eclipse had Americas spellbound for the day

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It is something that only happens about every 18 months and rarely does it occur when residents of the United States can see it in its totality.

The solar eclipse occurred between 9:15 a.m. and 11:10 a.m., Pacific Time. If you were fortunate enough to be in Madras, Oregon, people in that locality saw the total eclipse just after 10 a.m. local time. Here in Southern California residents witnessed a partial eclipse, about 60 percent of the sun obscured by the moon.

The best views of the eclipse were provided by NASA, of course. and we have included a few screen shots from the live broadcast on YouTube, which you can watch in its entirety below. They had stations set up around the country to record the eclipse, including balloons with data collection equipment and satellites. They even had scientists watching it from aircraft flying at 45,000 feet.

Residents on the East Coast should be seeing the very end of the eclipse, at the time of this posting.

It was a spectacular way to start the week.

The moon as it is moving in front of the sun. The lends filter accentuates the solar flares on the left side of the sun.
The total eclipse as seen from Beatrice, NE
The sun becoming visible as the moon moves away from the sun’s line of sight
The sun’s diamond ring as the moon moves away from the sun’s path, from Beatrice, NE

All photos are screenshots from NASA YouTube channel