Total solar eclipse turns day into night across the US

Emotional sky-gazers stood transfixed across North America Monday as the Sun vanished behind the Moon in a rare total eclipse that swept the continent coast-to-coast for the first time in nearly a century.

Eclipse chasers and amateur star watchers alike converged in cities along the path of totality, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) wide swath cutting through 14 US states, where the Moon briefly blocked out all light from the Sun. 

Festivals, rooftop parties, weddings, camping trips and astronomy meet-ups popped up nationwide for what NASA expected to be the most heavily photographed and documented eclipse in modern times, thanks to the era of social media.

Cheers rose from the crowds as totality began at 1716 GMT over Oregon, and similar cries of joy erupted roughly 90 minutes later when the phenomenon ended at 1848 GMT in Charleston, South Carolina.

Crowds in Lincoln Beach, Oregon were first to witness the partial phase of the Great American Eclipse, from about 1605 GMT.

Just inland, more than 100,000 people gathered at Madras, Oregon – typically a town of 7,000 – in what experts described as perfect viewing conditions.

So why is this solar eclipse so special? 

In downtown Charleston, the last point in the path of totality, crowds of tourists – some in special eclipse T-shirts and star-printed trousers – had staked out prime spots on the bustling city's storied waterfront.

Cloudy weather and thunderstorms dashed viewers' hopes of a clear view in some places, including Missouri.

Some of the clearest views were along the West Coast. 

Scientists planned to study the eclipse to learn more about the super-hot corona, or outer edge of the Sun.

Astronauts orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station were planning to document the eclipse, which they were in line to see three times. 

The last time such a spectacle unfolded from the Pacific to the Atlantic was in 1918. The last total eclipse seen anywhere in the United States took place in 1979.