On Monday, April 8, the shadow of a total solar eclipse will pass over North America: Stand in the right spot and for a few minutes the moon will completely block out the sun, thanks to a rare alignment of celestial bodies.
If you can’t get to a spot along the ‘path of totality’ yourself, don’t miss it – there are plenty of ways to watch this spectacular nature show on the Internet, no matter where you are in the world. Below we have selected a number of options.
One benefit of staying home is that you don’t need special goggles to watch online – something that’s an absolute must if you’re looking directly at the eclipse (here is NASA’s safety advice).
For those of you planning to watch live, you’ll need to know the timing: the shadow created by the total solar eclipse will hit the Pacific coast of Mexico at 11:07 am PT – that’s 2:07 pm ET, 7:07 pm in the UK, or 4.07am AEST on Tuesday April 9 in Australia.
The shadow’s path moves quickly up through the US, leaving the east coast of Canada at 5:16 PM NDT – so 1:16 PM PT / 4:16 PM ET / 9:16 PM BST in Britain, and 6:16 AM AEST in Australia. You basically have a few hours to tune in.
Now that you’ve checked your schedule, look here.
NASA livestream
Of course, NASA has a livestream of the event, which is also possible look here. The organization says it will share images from various telescopes across the US as the eclipse moves across the United States, and there will be expert commentary as well as an interactive live chat.
Livestream from the University of Maine
Go here to watch the livestream from the High Altitude Science Balloon, maintained by a team from the University of Maine. The balloon will be able to climb to an altitude of approximately 27,432 meters, which could help with any cloud cover issues.
TimeAndDate.com goes all-in on the total solar eclipse: You can visit the site for explanations, animations, timings and more, and you can watch the moon blot out the sun by following the livestream of the celestial event from here.
Livestream from the McDonald Observatory
It helps to watch the total solar eclipse with commentary from people who know what they’re talking about: and that’s the case with the McDonald Observatory livestream here. Be amazed by the sights of the eclipse and learn some science at the same time.
Local channels and streaming apps
Live streams on YouTube aren’t the only way to watch the eclipse: many local and national TV channels will also be covering it, so you can tune in wherever you can access these channels (including NBC, CNN, and ABC). internet or via apps.
Google TV is going to present some of these channels for you: go to the For You tab from the front screen. US viewers can also tune into a special on Disney Plus or Hulu starting at 11am PT / 2pm ET, and the free NASA app is another way to look at it.