12 Must-See Photos Of The August 21st Total Solar Eclipse

Even if you were fortunate enough to see the total solar eclipse, otherwise known as the “Great American Eclipse,” on August 21, you haven’t seen it like this.

On the day of the highly-anticipated event, scientists, professionals, photographers and amateur astronomers flocked to the United States to watch the moon temporarily block out the Sun. In locations where the eclipse was viewed best, photographers had only a couple of minutes to capture the celestial event.

Fortunately, many had success doing so and later shared their images to Flickr Creative Commons. Some of the best photos we’ve seen are compiled below. All are unique and help put our incredible Solar System into perspective.

If you can’t wait to see another total solar eclipse, mark your calendar for April 8, 2024. That’s when the next event will be visible to citizens and tourists in the United States. Aspiring astronomers can also venture to South America in 2019, when a solar eclipse will occur on July 2.

Following are 12 must-see photos of the most recent solar eclipse:

Ted Hesser spent days planning for the perfect picture

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Best view in the house… it took 4 days of planning and hard work to capture this shot. My girlfriend @martinatib and good friend @thistommysmith climbed the route twice, in scorching heat, to nail the positioning. But we nailed it!

A post shared by Ted Hesser (@tedhesser) on Aug 21, 2017 at 12:40pm PDT

The following photo was taken by Matt Drobnik in Charleston, South Carolina

SparkFun Electronics captured this unique perspective in Niwot, Colorado.

Jasman Mander captured this incredible time lapse in Oregon.

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Eclipse as seen from Oregon by @JasmanMander follow @ifyouhigh

A post shared by IFYOUHIGH (@ifyouhigh) on Aug 21, 2017 at 6:03pm PDT

Sheila Sund from Oregon captured the eclipse on a slice of bread.

Some people captured the eclipse through tree leaves!

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Happy to be home for the eclipse and view it with my kids and my parents! Weren't those the little crescent shadows fabulous? ??? . . #eclipse #eclipseshadows #eclipse2017

A post shared by elizabeth I photographer (@elizfoto) on Aug 21, 2017 at 7:25pm PDT

Folks on the International Space Station captured photos of the eclipse, as well!

Millions of people saw #Eclipse2017 but only six people saw the umbra, or the moon's shadow, over the United States from space today. pic.twitter.com/hMgMC5MgRh

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) August 21, 2017

A NASA photographer captured this photo on the ISS

It's the moon, sunspots AND the station in front of the sun. @NASA photographer captures station transiting sun during #Eclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/hAVRINz0bv

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) August 21, 2017

Alaska Airlines captured this beauty

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The solar eclipse, as seen from an airplane flying above Oregon. (?: Alaska Airlines) #solareclipse #solareclipse2017

A post shared by CNN (@cnn) on Aug 21, 2017 at 11:56am PDT

h/t Science Alert