Total solar eclipse 2024 highlights: Rare phenomenon darkens North America’s skies

We’ve got live footage from Nasa telescopes stationed across North America. The feed cycles through different setups in the US and Mexico, but you can see the solar eclipse already beginning in Mexico, where the Moon is moving slowly in front of the Sun.

You can watch it here:

The first colander has been spotted in Old Montreal as crowds gather by the waterside for the total solar eclipse.

It belongs to Sam, a computer science student who has driven up from the Canadian capital, Ottawa, to join the party. “When the partial eclipse is happening, the normal circles of light in the shadow of the colander turn into slits,” he explained.

A confirmed sighting of the first Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt featuring the iconic Pink Floyd logo has also been made.

Vendors of eclipse glasses are desperately trying to offload stocks before the city starts dispensing them free of charge to protect damage to spectators’ eyes. The initial price of C$5 (£3) is tumbling.

This total eclipse is photographer Mike Miller’s first chance to get his own version of photos he’s only dreamed of.

“I’m super excited about this,” said Miller, an associate professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland.

He compared his preparation for the eclipse like his wife getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner: weeks of prep and planning for just a few short hours.

He’d come up last night to stay with his sons in Burlington, Vermont. Originally he’d planned to head to Ohio — but weather conditions weren’t looking good. But clouds were expected in Burlington, so they’d left the city and driven up the mountains to the tiny town of Johnson, Vermont. They set up next to other photographers overlooking a sports field, their neighbors had a telescope — his sons playing cards on a picnic blanket while Miller anxiously fiddled with his camera.

“I’m stressed,” he said. “I’ll be firing away.”

He’d made a removable paper filter to put on top of his camera for the partial eclipse — during the total eclipse you remove the filter entirely and just shoot normally, otherwise nothing would be visible.

Miller had several shots he was keen to capture. The corona — the classic total eclipse shot, where you see the rays coming off the sun.

“It’s the biggest picture,” said Miller. “In that eclipse moment you can see the wispy white coming off. It’s a beautiful picture, I’d love to get my own copy of that.”

The second money shot is Baily’s beads — the moment when the moon is eclipsing. “You can see the actual mountains and valleys of the moon… it’s really remarkable,” he said. It only happens for 5-6 seconds just before and after totality.

And his third dream photo is the diamond ring, a starburst of light on one side of the moon.

“It’s a cool effect,” he said.

Since it’s Miller’s first total eclipse he’s trying to remember what other photographers have advised him most of all.

“You can take the pictures but at some point you just have to stop and enjoy,” he said. “I’m already in a zen moment where if it fails with the cameras, at least I’ll have the experience.”

As the Moon continues to move in front of the Sun over Mexico, here’s a reminder of the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse.

We’re around 20 minutes away from the first total solar eclipse over land, which will last several minutes.

The longest period of total eclipse will be on the US-Mexico border, where it will last for 4 minutes and 27 seconds. By the time it reaches Canada, the period of totality will be less than three and a half minutes.

With around 10 minutes to go until the total eclipse begins, spare a thought for the animals and insects who have no idea why the skies are suddenly turning dark in the middle of the day.

A 2017 study of animal behaviour during a daytime blackout at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina discovered that it would be wise to stay away from the giraffe enclosure. At the peak of the eclipse, the Riverbanks tower started “running around like crazy and in a potentially dangerous way”, according to lead researcher Professor Adam Hartstone-Rose. “In the wild, giraffes are pretty calm animals. They really don’t do crazy behaviour unless they need to.”

During that same eclipse, it was also reported that bumblebees stopped buzzing across several US states.

You can read the full story here.

Anyone who wants to stare directly at the Sun during the solar eclipse must wear protective glasses, or else risk permanently damaging their eyesight.

Unfortunately, even these safety measures are no guarantee that your eyes will be protected.

One retailer has reportedly issued an email to customers warning them that their glasses are not safe for viewing the eclipse.

“Dear Amazon Customer, We write to notify you of a potential safety concern with a product that you purchased on Amazon.com,” the email reportedly warned, according to WHEC in Rochester, New York.

“Affected Product: Biniki Solar Eclipse Glasses AAS Approved 2024 – CE & ISO Certified Safe Shades for Direct Sun Viewing (6 Packs). The product listed above was not included in the American Astronomical Society’s list of safe suppliers of solar eclipse viewers and filters and therefore may not be safe for viewing a solar eclipse.”

The total eclipse is here!

Here’s the moment the Moon passed directly in front of the Sun over Mazatlan, Mexico.

Even though you know exactly what’s going to happen, and how it will look, it is still a remarkable sight.

What are the odds that the Sun is 400 times further away than the Moon, while also being 400 times bigger? It’s a phenomenal coincidence that gives us such a phenomenal spectacle.

Nasa has shared the clip of the first sighting of the 2024 total solar eclipse over Mazatlán, Mexico

Torreón is now under the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse.

Here’s how it looks from one of Nasa’s telescopes on the ground:

The path of totality takes us now along to Eagle Pass, Texas, where people in the US will be able to see the total solar eclipse for the first time.

There’s a fair bit of cloud cover over the southern states, though some lucky viewers are getting a glimpse.