Today’s solar eclipse will pass over the Pacific Ocean and parts of South America and nowhere else. This means millions of hopeful eclipse hunters around the world will miss the astronomical spectacle. Total eclipses of the Sun are rare – they only happen once every 18 months – and are very limited in the number of places that can see them. The good news, however, is a number of streaming options are available to watch the eclipse live online.
How to watch the solar eclipse live online today:
Courtesy of NASA, the European Southern Observatory, Slooh and the Virtual Telescope Project you have a wide range of options.
US space agency NASA will broadcast the eclipse today in partnership with the San Francisco Exploratorium.
You can watch the eclipse in the embedded YouTube video player, which features NASA’s around-the-clock educational broadcasts.
NASA said: “NASA has partnered with the Exploratorium in San Francisco to bring live views to people across the world of a total solar eclipse, occurring Tuesday, July 2, over South America.
READ MORE: How long will the solar eclipse last?
“The eclipse will only be visible directly to observers within the path of totality, which stretches across parts of Chile and Argentina.”
Live views of the solar eclipse will begin at 8pm BST (3pm EDT) from telescopes in Vicuna, Chile.
There will be additional options for simultaneous English and Spanish broadcasts on NASA’s website from 9pm BST to 10pm BST (4pm EDT to 5pm EDT).
And viewers in the US with access to terrestrial television can tune their TV sets to NASA’s public channel NASA TV.
READ MORE: What time is the start and finish of the solar eclipse?
Another option is to follow the Virtual Telescope Project tonight from Chile.
The Italy-based astronomy group has partnered with observatories in the Atacama desert to broadcast the event around the world.
The Virtual Telescope’s stream will feature commentary from director and chief astrophysicist Gianluca Masi.
You can find the eclipse livestream by clicking here from 8pm BST (3pm EDT).
Alternatively, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in South America will also broadcast the eclipse today.
The ESO live stream will track the total eclipse from the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
The ESO announced: “The 2019 total solar eclipse will last about one minute and 52 seconds from the La Silla summit.
“The Sun will be setting just as the entire eclipse ends and the peak of totality will happen when the Sun is a mere 13 degrees above the horizon from the view of La Silla Observatory.”
You can watch the ESO YouTube eclipse live stream by clicking here from 6pm BST (1pm EDT).
Another option for viewed in the US today is the tune in to the Weather Channel.
The weather forecast will stream the eclipse until 3am BST tomorrow morning (10pm EDT on July 2).
The Weather Channel broadcast will feature an appearance from meteorologist Danielle Banks and astronomer John Gianforte.
