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

There was an uptick in Google search terms like “eyes hurt” and “my eyes hurt” around 2pm ET as the solar eclipse passed over North America.

Nearly 32 million people were on the path of the totality, including parts of US states Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine as the rare celestial phenomenon occurred.

It will not be another two decades until the next total solar eclipse covering such major parts of the US occurs.

Looking at the sun without protective glasses can be harmful to vision, with complaints of eye problems documented even after previous eclipses.

Ophthalmologists say two main types of injuries may occur if one looks at the sun directly – burn to the outside of the eye, which is called solar keratitis, or damage to nerve tissue within.

“You can get sort of a burn to that cornea, and that’ll cause redness and tearing and those sorts of symptoms. That should resolve on its own, within a day or two, without any sort of permanent damage,” Daniel Lattin, an ophthalmologist in Florida, told NBC News.

Doctors cautioned ahead of the eclipse that people experiencing discomfort following eclipse viewing must seek medical help.

“See a local doctor of optometry for a comprehensive eye exam if you experience discomfort or vision issues post-eclipse,” the American Optometric Association said.

Zookeepers and scientists documented unusual behaviour among animals including, gorillas, giraffes, macaws and flamingoes during the total solar eclipse.

Since total solar eclipses are rare, researchers observed animals on Sunday evening at zoos including the San Antonio Zoo and the Fort Worth Zoo in the US.

The San Antonio Zoo shared a video of meerkats running erratically throughout their habitat “as one large group” during totality.

“Meerkats approaching and entering their indoor habitat space in the few minutes prior to totality, which supported our working hypothesis that diurnal animals, meaning those awake during the day, would display their typical evening activity patterns during totality!” the zoo’s official X account posted.

As the skies darkened, many animals in the Forth Worth zoo reportedly made their way through their barn doors, which the creatures usually do at night.

Birds also showed behaviour changes in some zoos.

An Indianapolis Zoo spokesperson told CBS News that macaws, budgies and other birds got quiet and roosted up high, displaying nighttime behaviour during the eclipse.

The eclipse is over, but the millions who watched it in North America don’t have that long to wait for the next celestial event.

Later this month will see the Lyrids Meteor Shower, before the Eta Aquarids light up the sky in May. In July, the Perseid meteor shower will rain shooting stars, while star gazers can also look forward to a partial lunar eclipse in September and an annular solar eclipse in October.

You can find out more about the next night-sky events here:

‘What was the experience like watching it? Eudaimonia,’ one person who’d travelled eight hours to see the total solar eclipse in Vermont told Amber Jamieson.

A clip from the Weather Channel has been doing the rounds after the presenter got very excited by the totality.

Stephanie Abrams was in Fredericksburg, Texas, when the total solar eclipse appeared from behind the clouds.

She can be heard screaming through the darkness: “We got it! Oh my god, it’s just so amazing.”

You can watch it here:

It’s not only the International Space Station offering views of today’s solar eclipse – a satellite from SpaceX’s Starlink network caught the moment a black spot appeared over Earth.

Local outlet WIVB-TV has shared footage of the moment Niagara Falls fell into darkness in the middle of the day.

The solar eclipse, whose path of totality passed right over the border town, caused street lights to automatically switch on.

“We were in connection directly with the universe, with the sun, with the moon, and we are so humble to see that.”

Minutes after the moon blotted out the sun for 90 surreal seconds on an island in the St Lawrence River, Olivier Hernandez, director of the Montreal Planetarium and a noted astrophysicist, was almost in tears.

“It was so emotional I was about to cry. Did you see the corona? Did you see the purity of the light coming out from the sun? We have seen also the chromosphere,” he said

“Wow, what a show, what a show.”

In the Great American Eclipse of 2024, Montreal was the star turn that no one had predicted. Most astronomical attention along the “zone of totality” was focused on Texas and the Midwest, with Niagara Falls also hoping for clear skies over one of the world’s great tourism icons.

In the end, though, the corrugated skyline of Canada’s biggest French-speaking city was the backdrop to a cosmic show that was summed up again and again as extraordinaire.