The U.S First Family gathered on the White House balcony and joined millions of Americans to watch the first total solar eclipse to sweep across America in 99 years. American President, Donald Trump was joined on the balcony of the White House by his wife Melania, his children, Barron and Ivanka, and cabinet members including Jeff Sessions, to watch the first total solar eclipse to sweep across America in 99 years.
According to a reporter, darkness swept across the US on Monday during the once-in-a-lifetime event as the eclipse traveled from coast to coast, ending just before 3pm EDT in South Carolina.
The celestial event began in Oregon at just after 9am PDT, and by 10.20am, the sun was completely blocked out except for a halo-like solar corona plunging the area into twilight. Over the next 90 minutes, the total eclipse traveled through 14 different states until ending in South Carolina. The other 36 states were all treated to a partial solar eclipse, where the moon covers only a part of the sun.
Millions had turned out to see the natural spectacle, including the Trumps and dozen of celebrities including the Kardashian clan, Ellen DeGeneres and Serena Williams.
In Oregon, locals ran out of their homes, with eclipse glasses or homemade contraptions in hand, to watch the moon fully cover the sun. ‘It’s really, really, really, really awesome,’ said 9-year-old Cami Smith as she watched the fully eclipsed sun from a gravel lane near her grandfather’s home at Beverly Beach, Oregon.
The temperature dropped and birds quieted down as the line of darkness raced across the continent. In Boise, Idaho, people clapped and whooped, and the street lights came on briefly in the middle of the day, while in Nashville, Tennessee, people craned the necks at the sun and knocked back longneck beers at Nudie’s Honky Tonk bar.
This is the first time America has experienced a coast to coast, total solar eclipse in 99 years.
