Highlights from the total solar eclipse: Live videos, photos and updates

Google searches about whether it's safe to look at the sun spiked today during the solar eclipse. It is never safe to gaze directly at the sun, even when it is partly or mostly covered by the moon.

Special eclipse glasses that are thousands of times darker than normal sunglasses are required to safely view solar eclipses and prevent eye damage. Pinhole projectors can also be made to safely view these celestial events.

CLEVELAND — Babies under the care of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were also celebrating the eclipse today with these special onesies and eye gear.

Caregivers dressed up the newborns to help them mark this special day they won’t be able to fully experience themselves. While the next total solar eclipse inside the United States is about two decades away, these babies will be 75 years old the next time a total solar eclipse like this comes to Ohio.

“We celebrate all sorts of things in the NICU: milestones, holidays, and now the solar eclipse! It’s so sweet to involve the babies by dressing them up for the occasion,” Katrina Wiedenfeld, MSN, RN, with the Cleveland Clinic Children’s NICU said in a statement.

The clinic noted their eye covers in the photos of course aren’t official eclipse eyewear, but they do help protect their eyes from some NICU therapy treatments.

“It’s such an exciting time here in Cleveland,” Dana Traci, BSN, RN, said in a statement. “Since our babies in the NICU won’t be going outside to see the total solar eclipse on Monday, we all really wanted to do something special to mark this day in history.”

From California to Maine, people stopped to enjoy the eclipse.

NBC News host Gadi Schwartz was high above Arkansas as the totality swept across the U.S.

Check out his unique view of this cosmic event:

Couples view the solar eclipse during a mass wedding in Russellville, Arkansas.

Caught the eclipse-chasing bug? It’s not too early to start planning for the next one.

The next total solar eclipse will be in 2026, but it will mostly pass over the Arctic Ocean, with some visibility in Greenland, Iceland, Portugal and northern Spain. In 2027, a total solar eclipse will be visible in Spain and a swath of northern Africa.

The next total solar eclipse visible from North America will be in 2033, but only over Alaska. Then in 2044, a total solar eclipse will cross Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, parts of Canada and Greenland.

The next total solar eclipse to cross the continental U.S. coast-to-coast will occur in 2045. The path of totality for that eclipse will cut through California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The solar eclipse has exited the United States and is continuing on its path over eastern Canada.

Maine was the last state in the country to experience totality.

BROWNSBURG, Ind. — When the eclipse reached totality here, the whole park cheered and the streetlights flashed on.

Some science enthusiasts near us looked through a high-powered telescope, and a group of children wrapped in glowsticks chased one another around a picnic blanket. It was idyllic.

LORDSTOWN, Ohio — The Mincks family watched in the parking lot of the Foxconn Electric Vehicle plant in Lordstown, Ohio.

Dan Mincks works at the plant, where his employer opened the parking lot up to the public. He was joined by his wife, Julie, and their three kids.

“Almost like a thunderstorm rolled in. It was not what I expected,” Mincks said. “I don’t have any words to describe what I expected. It just a total blackout.”

“It was like a black hole,” 11-year-old Allison said.

Ray Grope, 75, of North Jackson, brought his great-granddaughter Emelia, 1, to the Foxconn EV plant parking lot in Lordstown, Ohio, where he worked until he retired when it was GM plant.

“I just called a neighbor and they stayed home to watch it,” said Grope, who was joined by his wife, Jennifer. “I called them and they said they’re not seeing anything, and I told them you’ve got to put the glasses on.”

The solar eclipse wasn’t just a spectacle from the ground — satellites also caught the show from space.

The National Weather Service’s outpost in Boise, Idaho, posted a fascinating video on X showing the solar eclipse crossing the south-central United States. The shadow of the moon appears as a dark smudge charging northeast over the country.

Totality swept the Midwest, cloaking Cleveland in darkness for a little under 4 minutes. Experience what those moments were like as temperatures dropped and afternoon turned to night.

People watch as the moon partially covers the sun during a total solar eclipse. 

WASHINGTON — Some of the science lovers in the crowd had either a countdown going on their phone or the peak eclipse time of 3:20 p.m. lodged in their brain ahead of time.

But for most of the Fourth-of-July-fireworks-level crowd here, we knew we reached peak eclipse in D.C. when everyone started spontaneously cheering.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., observed the eclipse from the balcony of his office in the U.S. Capitol, surrounded by staff, talking with them about how part of his state is experiencing totality, while New York City is only experiencing a partial eclipse like the one he was watching.

Watch as NBC News’ Lester Holt and Tom Costello witness the moment the solar eclipse reaches totality in Indianapolis. 

The sun has been blocked — in the sky and on X, apparently.

NASA’s official account for the moon posted a cheeky screenshot “blocking” the sun on the social media platform mid-solar eclipse and touting: "Oops I did it again."

The solar eclipse is more than halfway along its path across the country, with totality wrapping up in Indianapolis.

Next up: totality in Cleveland!

NBC News climate reporter Chase Cain was in Little Rock for its totality, where an ecologist spoke to him about how the animals were reacting to the sudden darkness.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Marriage is through sickness and in health, through life’s brightest moments and its darkest. But some want to get the darkest out of the way first.

Hundreds of couples from around the country have flocked to a Russellville, Arkansas, soccer field today to tie the knot at the very moment the moon covers the sun. All they needed was a marriage license — and a few minutes on this Monday afternoon — to take part. Call it a total eclipse of the heart.

Russellville is among the top places in the country to watch the solar eclipse: NASA is hosting part of its live broadcast from the city, and hundreds of thousands have traveled into town for the event.

DALLAS — Despite a forecast for cloudy skies, the weather cooperated and an eerie dusk slowly fell as the city entered totality.

For nearly 4 1/2 minutes, it looked like dusk. Eclipse-watchers looked up and clapped and cheered, but the birds were silent. The temperature — which has been in the 80s and a bit humid — also dropped.

Now that the moon is sliding aside, the birds are chirping once again.

The solar eclipse is moving over Arkansas at the moment, with totality starting to wrap up in Little Rock.

The eclipse will continue northeast, with millions more people awaiting their turn to experience a few minutes of darkness in the middle of the afternoon.

NBC News correspondent Morgan Chesky spoke with a family as the moon blotted out the sun over Kerrville.

Totality has passed over Dallas.

Al Roker was there for the moment.

People gathered at the Edge at Hudson Yards observation deck in New York City.

The moon is in its final stages of sliding between Earth and the sun over Eagle Pass and Kerrville, Texas, the first cities in the state (and the United States) to experience totality.

Viewers in these parts of the state will be treated to a little over 4 minutes of darkness — one of the longest stretches of totality in the United States.

OAKLAND — Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the moon only blocked about a third of the sun during our partial solar eclipse.

I took the colander from my kitchen out to the sidewalk to enjoy the strangely shaped shadows as the moon appeared to take a bite out of the circles of sunlight I'd normally expect to see through the holes.

Mexico’s Pacific coast was the first place in North America to experience totality during today's solar eclipse. Experience what it was like in Mazatlán as the moon slid into alignment with Earth and the sun.

Check out a gallery of all the best pictures of the 2024 eclipse.

We'll be adding to this throughout the day as the moon casts its shadow across the U.S.

For people along the path of totality, there are some fun milestones to keep track of as the total solar eclipse unfolds.

As the eclipse progresses and it starts to get dark, look out for the “diamond ring effect” created by the last beams of sunlight. The sun’s atmosphere will appear as an illuminated halo, and the last light still visible will look like the diamond of a giant ring.

As the sunlight decreases even further, an effect known as Baily’s beads will be created by the moon’s rugged terrain. Tiny “beads” of light will be visible for only a few seconds around the dark moon, as the last bits of sunlight peer through the moon’s mountains and valleys.

When the moon is fully blocking the sun, it is safe to remove eclipse glasses and look at the total solar eclipse with the naked eye.

People gathered to watch the eclipse in Mazatlán, one of the first parts of North America to see the totality.

WASHINGTON — It’s 2:19 p.m., and the edge of the moon is visible in front of the sun — and it got just a tad dimmer and a tad cooler on the National Mall.

At first it seemed like it could have been one of the few fluffy white clouds in the sky, but then the cloud moved and the dimmer light stayed the same.

The crowds are a now a little quieter, and more people are looking up.

We're getting our first views of the total solar eclipse from Mazatlán in Mexico, as totality takes hold and darkens afternoon skies.

FORT ERIE, Canada — Hundreds of people have gathered on Bay Beach in Fort Erie, located in the Canadian province of Ontario, to take part in this historic moment. The beach, one of eight designated eclipse viewing spots in Fort Erie, was dotted with telescopes and tents as observers hoped overcast skies would clear.

“I’m a big astronomy fan,” said Chung Zheng, who drove roughly two hours from Toronto with friends to observe the eclipse.

Zheng, 28, set up his own telescope on the beach.

“This is a very rare event for us to have it so close,” he said. “We wouldn’t miss this opportunity for the world.”

Here on the deck of the USS Intrepid, an aicraft-carrier-turned-museum that is hosting an eclipse event, some people have come prepared with pinhole projectors.

Susan Madison said she looked up how to make hers on YouTube.

"I never got glasses. I was afraid we’d get here and they would be out of them, so I looked up and found several different ways to make it," she said.

Karen Armas Landau has just returned from a trip to Peru and figured she'd skip doing anything for the eclipse. Now, she's on the flight deck and ready for the show.

"I just kept thinking about it and saying, 'Yeah, but it’s a solar eclipse,'" she said. "I’ve never seen any eclipse before."

NBC News host Gadi Schwartz is airborne to get a look at the eclipse from high above Texas. Here's a first look at his trip:

A partial eclipse is now visible in Cleveland! The bottom right corner of the sun is covered, making it look like an eyeball looking down from the skies.

President Joe Biden is getting in on the eclipse fun from the White House.

The nation’s capital is not in the eclipse’s path of totality, but the president nonetheless had an important reminder for anyone planning to look skyward and watch the moon partially or fully block the sun’s light today.

“An eclipse is worth marveling at,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “But don’t be silly, folks — play it safe and wear protective eyewear.”

Nearly 50,000 people have descended on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to catch one of the area's best views of today's total solar eclipse.

Indianapolis is the biggest city in the eclipse’s path of totality outside of Texas.

BROCKPORT, N.Y. — Crowds are gathering on the campus of SUNY Brockport in anticipation of today’s total solar eclipse.

The college has been preparing for this day for more than three years and still even at this late hour they don’t know what to expect. The cloudy skies at this point have kept the big crowds away, but there is still a significant group of eclipse watchers lined up on the center line of totality, which runs right through the campus and makes this a special vantage point.

The college has partnered with universities across the U.S. for research projects connected to the eclipse, and they have canceled classes for most of Monday so students can participate in eclipse-themed events.

The clouds are starting to break up, so when the eclipse rolls through they are hopeful this crowd will get the show they are looking for.

Wildlife may respond in various ways to the few minutes of darkness during totality. Jason Milks, a wildlife ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, says the reactions can be grouped into four categories: doing nothing, bedtime behavior, anxiety and possibly even mating.

The solar eclipse has begun for viewers in Mexico, the first in North America to see the moon block the sun's light. The eclipse will cross into the United States over Texas next.

If you live in the path of totality, you’ve probably seen more than your fair share of eclipse-themed potpourri.

From branded eclipse glasses and T-shirts at thrift stores to drinks at local bars, eclipse-themed (and apocalypse-themed) paraphernalia is all the rage.

We are ready to go live for our very special eclipse coverage from control room 1A. 

Lester Holt is live at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Tom Costello. Al Roker is in Dallas, and we have reporters out in the field from Mexico to Maine. 

The view from our control room isn't bad either. Watching the sun through all of our cameras is extraordinary.

WASHINGTON — It’s a lovely, sunny April day on the National Mall, and by 1:30 p.m. residents from across the DMV and beyond were already staking spots on the grass to watch the solar eclipse.

It’s a Monday, but you wouldn’t know it from the size of the crowds and the enthusiasm they’re showing. It feels more like a busy Saturday — people are walking dogs, biking and setting up picnics with friends or their kids.

Periodic clumps of people are also gathering around tents from different Smithsonian museums, which are handing out eclipse glasses and information about how the eclipse happens.

MONROEVILLE, Ohio — Family, friends and neighbors are gathering in this rural town for an eclipse celebration directly in the path of the totality.

Three generations of the Sabo family have returned to the family farm, where the oldest generation was born, for the once-in-a-lifetime event. The gathering is getting underway with homemade chili cooked over the fire, along with custom eclipse-themed sugar cookies showing the stages of the eclipse made by Columbus-based bakery Momma Sabo’s for the event.

A “devil comet” known for its occasional outbursts is currently visible in the night sky, and lucky stargazers may even be able to spot the celestial object during the eclipse.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks was nicknamed the “devil comet” because an eruption last year left it with two distinct trails of gas and ice in the shape of devil horns.

Read the full story here.

New York City may not be in the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse, but that hasn’t dampened astrophysicist Mark Baraket’s enthusiasm for what he says is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Baraket will be witnessing a partial solar eclipse from the deck of the Intrepid Museum, a converted aircraft carrier stationed on the west side of Manhattan.

"This is the forces of nature live at work: the moon in conjunction with the sun and the Earth," he said. "And by the way, they have a name for that. It's called 'syzygy.' That is a real word. If you played it in Scrabble, you get 25 points. ... It means all three objects are in perfect alignment."

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Vermont’s largest city has rolled out the red carpet for visitors from all over who are anxious to see a rare total solar eclipse.

Burlington’s lakefront has been gradually filling up throughout the day, with tourists setting up telescopes, tents chairs and more. Many people are lining up at merchandise tents to get a souvenir to mark the occasion.

Jennifer Garland of Massachusetts said she missed the last total eclipse in 2017, so she was sure to have a spot early in the day right on Lake Champlain.

“I had cancer at the time,” Garland said, recalling 2017. “I couldn’t travel. … It killed me. These things are like once, maybe twice in a lifetime, and I don’t want to miss it.”

As of noon, parking lots were quickly filling up and crowds were trekking along downtown Burlington’s sidewalks toward the lake for viewing.

People gather under overcast skies ahead of a total solar eclipse in Niagara Falls, Ontario. But Environment Canada’s weather predictions for the afternoon don’t look promising.

Ahead of today's total solar eclipse, Al Roker details NBC News’ coverage of the celestial event from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.

NBC correspondents will also be reporting live from Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Maine and elsewhere along the eclipse’s path of totality.

Monday’s solar eclipse is giving some of the country’s smaller airports their moment in the sun.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported arriving flights at airports from Burlington, Vermont, to southern Illinois were briefly halted on Monday morning ahead of the total eclipse.

Such disruptions are routinely caused by bad weather and heavy traffic in big-city hubs, but high demand for prime views of the phenomenon jammed some smaller airports on Monday. The best views of the solar eclipse in the U.S. span from Texas through Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio to northwestern New York and Maine, according to NASA.

A ground stop halts arrivals into an airport, giving a facility time to catch up and avoid airplane parking jams on the ground.

Read the full story here.

Some eclipse glasses reportedly sold through Amazon have been recalled because they might not meet safety standards, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The recalled glasses were sold as "Biniki Solar Eclipse Glasses AAS Approved 2024 — CE & ISO Certified Safe Shades for Direct Sun Viewing (6 Packs)." In addition to online sales, they were available at several stores in southern Illinois.

The recalled glasses were labeled as “EN ISO 12312-1:2022,” according to the health department. Proper eclipse glasses should have the manufacturer’s name and address clearly labeled, along with the ISO logo and the code “IS 12312-2” printed on the inside.

“People in possession of the recalled glasses should not use them to view the eclipse,” the public health department said in a statement. “Using inadequate eye protection could lead to serious eye damage.”

For wildlife, the sudden darkness of a total solar eclipse comes as a surprise. Birds might squawk to sound an alarm. Crickets start to chirp and owls hoot as if it’s nighttime.

We’re at a nature preserve near Little Rock to witness how wildlife responds to the total eclipse.

People who are visually impaired can still participate in eclipse festivities in Cleveland, thanks to a "LightSound" device that converts light from the sun into noise.

“So you hear the tone — brighter light is a higher pitch tone — and as the shadow passes over, it’s going to get lower and lower and lower until it’s just a series of clicks when it’s perfectly dark,” said Lindsay Deering, an information and education administrator at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

From Mexico to Maine, people have already begun to snag choice viewing spots, hoping to catch a view of the solar eclipse.

The Texas Eclipse Festival in Burnet has been canceled because of expected severe weather today through Wednesday, including the possibility of thunderstorms, hail, high winds and tornadoes.

“Your safety is our top priority. With the support and coordination of Burnet County officials, local safety agencies, and The National Weather Service, we’ve agreed to end the festival today in a calm orderly manner,” event organizers said in a post on the festival’s website.

Organizers said people can stay for the solar eclipse as long as they are prepared to depart after totality.

“This guidance may change based on weather,” officials said.

Newton Chu traveled more than 4,000 miles to witness today's total solar eclipse.

Journeying from Hilo, Hawaii, to Indianapolis, it will be Chu's third time experiencing totality. He saw his first total solar eclipse in 1991 from the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, at an altitude of 13,500 feet. In 2017, Chu traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho, and witnessed totality atop one of the local mountains.

This time around, Chu said he's hoping to do something a little different.

“My goal is to see some planets this time, which I’ve never seen before in the daytime,” he said, adding that he'll be looking out for Saturn, Venus and even a rare comet that could be visible near Jupiter.

But ultimately, he wants to simply enjoy the experience of his third total solar eclipse. “Hopefully I’ll try to stay in the moment,” he said.

Chu said traveling to see eclipses has given him a good excuse to experience celestial events in the great outdoors while surrounded by friends and family.

“It’s really something quite special,” he said.

DALLAS — It’s pretty cloudy here, but it’s still early! And you never know what’s going to happen with the weather in Texas.That said, there is some expectation from forecasters that there could be some breaks in the clouds before storms roll in.

Eclipse mania is in full effect, but what exactly is taking place in the sky? NBC News’ Angie Lassman uses augmented reality technology to give a visual representation of what happens during a total solar eclipse.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — William Shatner, the oldest person to ever visit space, will be on stage narrating the moments leading to totality at Indiana University this afternoon.

Sitting down with NBC News, he expressed the magical feeling an eclipse will will provide: "It’s huge when you think about it. Celestial bodies are placing themselves between other celestial bodies."

But in combination with his fascination and curiosity about space, he advised humans “need to do both” when it comes to tackling climate change on Earth and exploring space around our home planet.

"You have to have a focus on the most important part, which is staying alive. I mean, what’s the point of going into space, if you can’t come back, or you were overcome by the fumes?" he said. "No, we’re in a dire situation. We’ve got to clean up the environment and add our curiosity and our ambition to see what’s out there."

Bride and groom Kylee and Michael Rice prepare to take a hot air balloon ride before a planned mass wedding of over 200 couples at the "Total Eclipse of the Heart" festival in Russellville, Ark.

NEW SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Joe Scott, 63, and Chris Scott, 62, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, are headed to see their second total solar eclipse, sporting T-shirts touting the feat.

The retired couple watched the 2017 eclipse at the zoo in Greenville, South Carolina. This time, they have tickets to watch from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

The pair had anticipated seeing the animals go wild at the zoo, but said instead most just went to sleep.

“Everyone told us the animals would be crazy. They actually just thought it was nighttime and went to sleep,” Joe Scott said while taking a break at an Ohio travel plaza. “And so now we’re going to the other extreme.”

“It’s going to be a party,” Chris Scott added.

For this eclipse, the moon is a bit closer to Earth than it was during the 2017 total solar eclipse, meaning its path is wider, according to NASA.

It will also pass over more populated areas, giving about 19.6 million more people a chance to experience totality without having to travel.

But even if you’re not close to the path of totality, 99% of people in the U.S. will be able to see at least a partial solar eclipse, NASA says.

Totality is also expected to last longer for the 2024 eclipse — nearly 4½ minutes in parts of Texas — compared to 2017's longest period of 2 minutes and 42 seconds near Carbondale, Illinois.

KERRVILLE, Texas — We're at the Kerrville eclipse festival in the park where at least 1,000 people have already set up their beach chairs and coolers.

This location is one of the first big towns in the U.S. that will see the eclipse starting at 2:32 p.m. ET. There’s still pretty heavy cloud cover, with loud cheers from the crowd whenever the sun has popped through. 

Eclipse watchers are headed to major events around the country, maybe none as big as Purdue University's watch party at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NBC News' Lester Holt and Tom Costello will be there as well, providing live coverage as the totality passes overhead.

CLEVELAND — Blue skies... at least for now! Crowds started filing through security at the Great Lakes Science Center around 10 a.m. ET. The expected crowd at this NASA event? Roughly 30,000.

Cleveland is one of the biggest cities in the path of totality today, with the free outdoor event featuring eclipse glasses, a "NASA Village" of exhibits, performances and screenings of two films.

Along the path of totality, tens of millions are gathering for the out-of-this-world eclipse whose shadow will sweep across the United States. NBC News' Jesse Kirsch reports for "TODAY" on how people are celebrating, from hitting the slopes to getting married.

An updated forecast from the National Weather Service appears to show a lucky break in cloud cover for some cities along today’s path of totality.

Kyle Struckmann, a national aviation meteorologist for the weather service at the FAA Command Center, detailed the weather outlook in a video posted on X. The forecast showed clouds over most of eastern Texas and stretching up into the Tennessee Valley, with more clouds from the Appalachians north to Detroit.

But he said those clouds will be moving east as the day progresses. By the time the eclipse starts crossing Texas, he said clouds may move out of the Dallas area, with conditions also appearing to clear over Arkansas, Missouri and Indiana.

Unfortunately for those in the Great Lakes region, Struckmann said afternoon clouds are forecast around Buffalo and other parts of upstate New York.

“Once we get to New England, things will be very clear,” he said. “So, very good viewing conditions for the eclipse expected up there.”

April is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and today promises to put its message to the test.

As the eclipse nears, the agency is urging drivers to keep their eyes on the road, not the sky, and to avoid pulling over in unsafe locations like the shoulders of highways and interstates (try a parking lot instead).

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine has activated the Ohio Emergency Operations Center, with his press secretary telling NBC News, “What we’re mostly concerned about is traffic” throughout the state, where the path of totality extends from Dayton to Cleveland.

Further south, the Texas Department of Transportation is also telling drivers to keep moving. Airport officials have been preparing for visitor volumes to resemble those on a typical holiday weekend. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has extra aviation department staffers on hand to keep ticket counters and security checkpoints running smoothly but has warned of long lines at rental car desks.

The small city of Perryville, Missouri, is also planning to head off backed-up roadways, but Perry County Sheriff Jason Klaus said his officers are doing “everything we can not to use any kind of parking enforcement.” They’re hoping to hand out more free eclipse glasses than parking tickets; every patrol car will have an extra stash.

Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino joined "TODAY" to talk about the science of the eclipse, as well as why it's an opportunity to gain a greater appreciation of our cosmic neighborhood.

At 22, Ella Ross is among the younger members of a community of umbraphiles — a term that comes from the word umbra, the shadow cast by the moon as it blocks out the sun. These eclipse chasers dedicate their lives to tracking down eclipses around the world.

Three umbraphiles currently hold the record for witnessing total solar eclipses. Each of them has seen 33, but Ross plans on breaking that record in her lifetime.

“I know where I’m going to be for the next solar eclipse and a couple more after that,” she said. “I’ve planned where I’m going to be up until 2098.”

Tyler Nordgren, an active member of the umbraphile community, has spent decades chasing eclipses. He has witnessed 10 total solar eclipses, gives lectures on the events and has led several umbraphile expeditions to remote locations.

“Once people get captured by this, they’ll travel literally to the ends of the Earth,” he said. “I’ve seen totality from a ship in the middle of the Atlantic and on a three-week trip from Spain to Barbados. I sailed to the Antarctic in 2021 to see a total solar eclipse, and I’ll be seeing it again from a fjord in Greenland in 2026.”

Nordgren is an astronomer and an artist, specializing in educational posters based on towns in the path of totality. Over the years, he has designed eclipse posters featuring places from Oregon to Maine.

This year, Nordgren partnered with New York State Parks to create the I Love NY total eclipse poster. He is spending totality on the shores of Lake Ontario, at Fair Haven Beach State Park, where he will be giving a talk during the eclipse.

If you’re planning to bear witness to the rare eclipse, you’re probably getting your phone cameras ready. But have you ever tried taking a picture of the sky and noticed it didn’t translate too well?

Here are some tips on how to best photograph today’s celestial event with your phone — no professional cameras required!

Just as your eyes need eclipse glasses to see the eclipse, your phone camera lens might too.

• Try pressing your eclipse glasses close to your lens before totality, when the skies temporarily darken, to eliminate the light blooming. When totality happens, remove the filter or glasses — they’re no longer needed.
• To focus your phone’s camera on the eclipse, try using its focus lock feature. Tap your screen on where you’d like to focus, then hold until you see the yellow AE/AF LOCK alert. Your phone will now keep that area in focus.
• To minimize movement so you can get the clearest shot, use a tripod or your phone’s timer mode.

Read the full article here.

Perryville, about 80 miles south of St. Louis, is in the path of totality stretching from Texas to Maine, where the shadow of the moon will fully obscure the sun for several minutes.

All along that swath, businesses large and small are looking to cash in. Delta Air Lines is running eclipse flights from Austin and Dallas to Detroit. Hotels were charging guests an average of $170 more yesterday than on the same day last year, according to travel technology company Amadeus. Tickets to an all-day sound healing retreat in Vermont have been going for $222 a pop.

But in Perryville, population 8,500, many businesses are vowing not to price-gouge visitors, hoping they’ll come back after the big event is over.

Read the full article here.

Many eclipse tourists traveled to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont over the weekend, making sure they arrived early and didn’t have to fight last-minute traffic.

In Vermont, downtown Burlington had a Mardi Gras vibe yesterday,as people packed the pedestrian mall.

And as early as Saturday in Maine, things were already getting pretty wild in Houlton, including a group of people in alien costumes seen making their way through the streets. Numerous people shared photos of cars decorated with eclipse messaging.

Follow NBC Boston's liveblog here.

If you haven't been able to get your hands on eclipse glasses, there's still a way to watch the eclipse.

Check out this video that walks you through how to make a pinhole projector, which let's you watch the event without risking your retinas.

The Dallas Public Library will help those who might not be able to completely see the solar eclipse get a sense of it through sound, it said.

Four branches of the library system will use "LightSound" devices developed at Harvard University for the blind and low-vision community. The Dallas Public Library said Harvard donated the devices.

They emit a musical tone that changes as the eclipse progresses, according to the university, which said they were developed specifically so the visually impaired to experience eclipses.

They use "sonification" to convert data into sounds, according to Harvard.

Library officials said LightSound devices will be available at four library locations during the eclipse: the Lakewood, Prairie Creek, Preston Royal and Vickery branches.

Data from short-term rental tracking site AirDNA shows the huge demand for short-term bookings in cities and towns located along the eclipse path last night.

In an interview with NBC News, AirDNA chief economist Jamie Lane said that listings within the band on Airbnb and VRBO, which AirDNA tracks, were effectively sold out as of Wednesday.

That’s true even for larger cities such as Dallas (more than 95% booked), Cleveland (more than 97% booked), and the Buffalo and Niagara Falls area (more than 98% booked).

Lane said rates for listings are elevated, but he did not offer specific figures. He said the total the volume of listings had declined from the average — likely, he said, because second-home owners chose to take advantage of their properties themselves for the big event.

Severe storms are expected today across portions of the totality path, with 16 million people across most of Texas, southern Oklahoma, and small parts of Arkansas and Louisiana under severe weather risks. 

The storms will start around 3 to 4 p.m. local time and will last through the night, forecast to bring rain and the greatest risks of destructive softball-sized hail up to 4 inches in diameter, damaging wind gusts of over 60 mph and isolated tornadoes.

Tomorrow, 21 million people are at risk across much of Texas again and most of Louisiana with risks of very large hail and tornadoes.

A total of 3 million people are under flood watches across parts of northeast Texas, southern Arkansas and northwest Louisiana. Rainfall amounts in the next 24-72 hours could be a widespread 3-5 inches with locally higher amounts up to 8 inches.

Good morning! We are headed to the airport for some final checks.

We are taking two jets up to track the eclipse. The first will be carrying a state-of-the-art 8K high-speed camera that was used in the filming of "Top Gun."

We’ll be in the second jet flying on its wing as we approach the eclipse. The first jet will then break off to the Northeast as the eclipse approaches and will try to lock its camera onto the 118-mile-wide umbra.

We will break left, head straight into the eclipse and ride totality as long as possible. Should be the ride of a lifetime!

This morning, we are onboard the flight deck of the historic USS Intrepid for its solar eclipse viewing party.

The flight deck is poised to be one the prime viewing spots for the eclipse.

The museum’s fee is $36, half off for New York City residents.

NYC’s only aircraft carrier museum has commissioned 6,000 viewing glasses for the expected crowds. Although NYC is not in the path of totality, we are expecting somewhere around a 90% partial eclipse, and that’s enough for those hoping to get a (safe) glimpse of this cosmic confluence.

There's plenty to love about a cosmic event like today's eclipse, but keep in mind a couple safety precautions for your family and your pets:

As many as 31 million people live within the path of totality, which stretches in a diagonal line from Mexico, through Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, New York and Maine. 

Newton Chu and his family traveled to Indianapolis to view the spectacle from Hawaii — their third eclipse sighting since 1991. 

“I think it is a little emotional,” he said, noting that there are people often seen with tears in their eyes over witnessing “a phenomena of nature.”

Along the path, police expect highway gridlocks. 

“We were told to compare it to 30 Super Bowls letting out at the same time,” Pennsylvania State Troop Capt. Kirk Reese said. “Don’t stop on the highway to view the eclipse. Don’t stop in the roadway. Turn your headlights on. Be safe.” 

HOULTON, Maine — Everybody's ready, even George Washington.

After a weekend of festivities — science demonstrations, movies and gatherings culminating in fireworks Sunday night — this small Maine town in the path of totality will be focused on today's eclipse.

Houlton’s population is just under 5,000. But hundreds of eclipse-chasing tourists have arrived already, and more are expected today. 

In a corner store turned eclipse information center, folks are invited to put a pin on the map representing where they’re from. Most are from New England but there are pins from as far away as California and Washington State. Someone drew on Australia and pinned it.

Locals are excited too. This is the first full eclipse here since 1963. And back then, there were clouds and storms and a lot of disappointment. Today, we may just have the best forecast on the entire path of totality. There are thin clouds now but this afternoon bright sunshine is predicted. 

On the local station WHOU 100.1, the DJs are talking about how this eclipse has brought everyone together and the most noticeable thing is the “loudness of smiles” everywhere. 

“Everybody in this town is gonna be connected… because we’re gonna be eclipse buddies.”

The eclipse is a rare opportunity for scientists to study the Earth, the moon and the sun “in entirely different ways than we usually do,” according to Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator.

One of the agency’s main priorities will be to observe the sun’s outer atmosphere, or the corona, which normally can’t be seen because the star is too bright. During a total solar eclipse, the corona comes into view as faint wisps around a glowing halo when the moon blocks light from the sun’s surface.

“Things are happening with the corona that we don’t fully understand, and the eclipse gives us a unique opportunity to collect data that may give insights into the future of our star,” Melroy said in a news briefing.

Scientists are interested in the corona because it plays a key role in transferring heat and energy into the solar wind, the constant stream of charged particles released from the sun’s outer atmosphere. The solar wind ebbs and flows, occasionally shooting high-powered solar flares into space. These can hit Earth with electromagnetic radiation, which can cause radio blackouts and knock out power grids.

Read the full article here.

Clouds will increase ahead of severe thunderstorms expected across portions of the totality path from Texas to Arkansas today — but the good news is that the storms are expected to erupt after the totality ends. 

There will be high cirrus clouds — which are thin, wispy and transparent — along much of the eclipse path, but these clouds are not enough to totally obscure the view. It’s the mid, low-level clouds that will obscure more of the eclipse. 

Here are cloud cover forecasts by city:

NBC News’ meteorologist Michelle Grossman has the latest weather forecast for today’s total eclipse. The East Coast is looking pretty clear, but the Gulf Coast is predicted to have a lot of cloud cover.

Clouds and storms may potentially obscure views of today’s total solar eclipse in states along the path of totality in the southern Plains and the western Gulf Coast.

Around 20 million people in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma are at risk for severe weather at the start of the week, where multiple rounds of storms are forecast to start this afternoon. Very large hail will be the primary threat heading into today, with the threat shifting tomorrow across east Texas and Louisiana. Texas will see the most impact, with major cities including Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio in the path of the storms.

In Dallas, storms are forecast to start between 3 and 4 p.m. CT, after the eclipse is expected around 1:30 p.m. CT. In Kerrville and Junction, the storms could start between 1 and 2 p.m., but they would likely be isolated in nature and only just getting started by that time.

Read the full article here.

DALLAS — For many lifelong Texans, this could be the first total solar eclipse they’ve seen — it’s the first to pass over the state since 1878.

The 2017 total solar eclipse, the last one visible in the U.S., crossed over an arc of states stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. But this time, parts of Texas (and other states, of course) get a chance to be in the shadow.

Totality starts at 1:27 p.m. local time in Eagle Pass, on the border with Mexico. It is expected to begin in Dallas at 1:40 p.m. and end at 1:44 p.m.

Let’s hope the weather cooperates.

In 2017, Debra Ross and her daughter, Ella, drove 14 hours from their home in Rochester, New York, to rural Missouri to see the total solar eclipse.

Today, another total solar eclipse is passing right over their hometown.

Ross and her daughter are part of a community of eclipse chasers, people who travel across the world to experience these cosmic events. After today, the duo will have seen two solar eclipses and they plan to chase many more.

Ross said that her experience during the 2017 eclipse changed her life.

“In the minute and half of totality, I was only aware of four bodies in the entire universe,” she told NBC News. “The sun, the moon, the Earth and me. I got what all the hype was about and came out of that completely transformed.”

Ross, who is the co-chair of the American Astronomical Society’s eclipse task force, has been preparing for the eclipse in Rochester, which falls in the path of totality, for years.

“The excitement is absolutely palpable in Rochester,” she said.

Glasses made specifically for looking at the sun offer the only safe way to view the eclipse directly.

“Eclipse glasses are very important to prevent photothermal injury to the retina, and not just any old glasses — they have to be eclipse glasses with the ISO 12312-2 filter,” said Dr. Nicole Bajic, a comprehensive ophthalmologist at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.

The glasses are “thousands of times darker” than sunglasses, according to NASA.

Without such precautions, watching the eclipse can cause permanent eye damage.

“It’s called solar retinopathy, and it’s damage to very sensitive, intricate cells that make up the retina, which is the lining of the back of the eye, and that’s what transmits light into electrical signals so that we can see what we see,” Bajic said. “And when we have damage from the sun to that tissue, we can get decreased vision and central blind spots in our vision.”

Learn more about how to safely view the eclipse here.

Today’s cosmic event is one of two types of eclipses: lunar and solar. So what makes a solar eclipse? NBC News’ Zinhle Essamuah explains:

A total solar eclipse will cross North America today, offering millions a rare opportunity to see afternoon skies temporarily darken as the moon blocks the face of the sun.

Need to catch up quick? This guide will tell you what you need to know, including fun milestones to look for if you’re lucky enough to be in the path of totality and how to view the eclipse safely.

Good morning and happy Great American Eclipse Day!

Our live updates throughout the day will include reporting from across NBC News as the eclipse crosses the country.