Photo Essay: The Great North American Total Solar Eclipse Sweeps Across the Continent

People from all walks of life took part in one of the most awe-inspiring events in recent decades, a total solar eclipse that began its path in Mexico and continued across the United States in a northeasterly direction until crossing into Canada.
Those who got to view the rare event spent the afternoon following the movement of the full force of the Moon’s shadow. This eclipse was the last time one will pass through so much of the continent until the 2040s, although the next total solar eclipse will take place on August 12, 2026 and will cross through a number of European countries including Iceland, Spain, and Russia.
In 90% of the United States, the celestrial marvel was visible for roughly four hours, although totality – and this only in the relatively narrow swath of the path of totality– lasted at most four minutes and 30 seconds. The striking vision of the silhouette of the Moon blocking out the yellow orb we call the Sun save the silvery glow of its corona is the things that photo essays were created for, and we have one here today.
Sky gazers stood taking in the wonderment of it all, be they in a metropolis, on a beach, at a park, or in their back yard. Hopefully all wore safety glasses or used a camera obscura to avoid retina damage, except for the period of totality which of course was only in the path of totality.
We sent FBT Editorial Director Jonathan Spira out with a camera and his iPhone 15 Pro Max – as well as a pair of AAS-approved eclipse glasses and a camera obscura – to document the event.  Here’s what his lenses saw.
An image of today’s ecipse in which the sun is so overexposed that it creates the burnt white image visible in the sky. The camera’s optics then reflect back the actual crescent to the darkened sky.
A park in Jamestown, N.Y., the home town of legendary comedienne Lucille Ball, shortly before totality.
A dapperly-attired man watches the eclipse unfold in Dallas, Texas.

People in Bayside, New York, watching the eclipse
An image of today’s ecipse in which the sun is so overexposed that it creates the burnt white image visible in the sky. The camera’s optics then reflect back the actual crescent to the building.
(Photos: Accura Media Group)