14 of the best total solar eclipse 2024 photos from our readers

Daisy Dobrijevic
·8 min read
A series of eclipse images from partial eclipse to totality and then back to partial. .
A series of eclipse images from partial eclipse to totality and then back to partial. .

It's been two weeks since the total solar eclipse on April 8.

Whether your experience was beyond anything you could have imagined or for some, unfortunately, a total bust, the celestial phenomenon will no doubt have lasting effects on all who experienced it, many of whom captured some truly remarkable images.

Fortunately for us, our readers quickly sent in their awesome eclipse photos, many of which we included in our post-eclipse photo roundup story. But since then, they just keep on coming!

Instead of letting many of these wonderful eclipse views go to waste sitting in our inbox, we decided to highlight some of the best eclipse 2024 Space.com reader photos here in another story for all to enjoy. From diamond rings and Baily's beads and exquisite close-ups, behold, the total solar eclipse 2024 in all its glory.

Related: Annular solar eclipse 2024: Everything you need to know about the next solar eclipse

The path of totality crossed four Mexican states, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Durango, and Coahuila, before passing over 15 U.S. states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. It then moved through Canada, with the total eclipse seen in seven Canadian Provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

General aviation pilot Sichun Wang took to the skies along with a friend for a unique view of the solar eclipse along with the 360-degree dawn that surrounded them. Wang told us it felt like piloting a spacecraft during totality when he tried to chase the sun.

total solar eclipse in the top left part of the image photographed from the wing of a airplane which is in the center of the frame.
total solar eclipse in the top left part of the image photographed from the wing of a airplane which is in the center of the frame.

"During the eclipse, my photographer friend and I were thinking of experiencing the 360-degree dawn so we jumped in an airplane and flew under the total eclipse shadow," Wang told Space.com.

"He mounted 2 DJI action 4 cameras on my plane, one on the tip of the wing, and one on the V tail."

a image showing a circle of light which is the dawn and a warped airplane in the middle, it is warped due to the 360-degree filter places on the image.
a image showing a circle of light which is the dawn and a warped airplane in the middle, it is warped due to the 360-degree filter places on the image.

Wang used a selfie pole along with an Insta360 X3 to capture an impressive "little world" image of the 360-degree dawn.

"I know our photos are nowhere near professional quality, but I believe we got the best out of these small cams."

The image below was captured by Space.com reader Rajat Kumar Pal from Stow, Vermont.

A sequence of images show the eclipse through different phases as the sun travels through the sky with a mountain silhouetted in the foreground.
A sequence of images show the eclipse through different phases as the sun travels through the sky with a mountain silhouetted in the foreground.

"In this image, a lot of things are going on: First, obviously the eclipse itself, second almost 40 % of cloud cover, making it difficult to get a clear picture of the solar disk as well as the corona and other features; and third, a constant for fiddling around with the exposure as clouds interfering with the intensity of light from the eclipsed sun!" Pal told Space.com.

"Above all, it was an amazing experience to watch it with my wife, Sudakshina, who experienced this after a long time (her last eclipse experience was when she was a kid, and she forgot most of it)."

"It was a beautiful and surreal experience, and experiencing it with my wife is something special!" Pal continued.

Pal's wife Sudakshina Chakrabarty also captured an incredible close-up view of the eclipse with a diamond ring effect and visible solar prominences flaring pink.

an eclipsed sun appears as a black circle with a hazy white outline and a bright white circular shape at the lower edge which makes the scene look like a diamond ring.
an eclipsed sun appears as a black circle with a hazy white outline and a bright white circular shape at the lower edge which makes the scene look like a diamond ring.

"This was my first total solar eclipse photograph," Chakrabarty told Space.com.

"For a beginner, this was not a very smooth journey as the weather was very tumultuous throughout North America at this time. Even though the morning sky was spotless, as soon as the eclipse started some light clouds started to fly in which forced us to update and change all the camera settings at the very last moment," Chakrabarty continued.

"Nonetheless it was an out-of-this-world experience which we will never forget and which I would never be able to capture without the guidance and lessons from Rajat."

Breck DeWitt sent us this awesome image of an airplane crossing the sun during the partial eclipse phase on the east coast of Amelia Island, FL.

the silhouette of an airplane passes in front of the solar disk which has a chunk missing in the upper right corner where the moon begins to cover it.
the silhouette of an airplane passes in front of the solar disk which has a chunk missing in the upper right corner where the moon begins to cover it.

"I was pleasantly surprised to capture this image as I am located well east of the area of totality for the eclipse," DeWitt told Space.com

"Had I not been looking at the live feed of my ZWO telescope when the plane crossed the sun, it would have probably been weeks before I stumbled across it with the nearly 4 hours of video that I shot." DeWitt continued.

Greg Meyer sent us three fabulous eclipse photographs, we couldn't decide which one to include so we thought "Let's show them all!"

sequence of eclipse images appear high in the sky above Stonehenge II, a large stone structure.
sequence of eclipse images appear high in the sky above Stonehenge II, a large stone structure.

Meyer captured these stunning images from Stonehenge II located in Kerrville, Texas on the centerline of the eclipse.

a series of eclipse images from partial eclipse to totality and then back to partial.
a series of eclipse images from partial eclipse to totality and then back to partial.

Meyer used a Canon 6D Mark II with a Sky-Watcher EQ6 R Pro mount and Sigma 150-600mm lens (at 600mm, F8, ISO 500.) to capture the solar eclipse in all its glory.

numerous images compiled together showing the various stages of the solar eclipse from when the moon appears to take its first
numerous images compiled together showing the various stages of the solar eclipse from when the moon appears to take its first

Image processing was carried out in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

Robert Antol captured this exquisite close up image of the partial eclipse phase on April 8 from Stargate 4173 at Grimaldi Tower Observatory,  Poughquag, New York.

a large portion of the sun is covered by the moon, leaving a thin orange crescent which almost looks like a crescent moon in the night sky.
a large portion of the sun is covered by the moon, leaving a thin orange crescent which almost looks like a crescent moon in the night sky.

Antol saw a 92.95% eclipsed sun from his location on April 8.

Jim Abels looks as though he peered right into the eye of the eclipse with this impressive totality image captured from Eustis, Maine. His journey to the eclipse was a rocky one, but it looks like it all certainly paid off in the end!

the eclipse looks like an eye, with a dark center and radiating white rings with corona details and small pink filament eruptions visible.
the eclipse looks like an eye, with a dark center and radiating white rings with corona details and small pink filament eruptions visible.

RELATED STORIES:

— Which places on Earth witness the most solar eclipses?

— How the supersonic Concorde jet broke the record for the longest total solar eclipse in history

— Historical incidents of viewing total eclipses near the edge of totality

"We did a 1,100-mile road trip to find a clear place to capture the eclipse!" Abels told Space.com.

The first destination was the Adirondacks in upstate New York. We arrived mid day Saturday and found a great place to capture it. Once we woke up on Sunday, we check our weather app and noticed clouds coming in around 3 p.m. so we decided to drive 5.5 more hours to Eustis, Maine which had 0% cloud coverage." Abels continued.

"Since all the hotels would be booked, we slept in our cars. It wasn't easy but well worth it!"

In this, the moon is lit by sunlight reflecting off Earth in a process known as Earthshine.

"This HDR ( High Dynamic Range) of various exposures are blended on each other to show a wide range of light. From left to right, stars captured here are 88 Piscium, Zeta Piscium B and HD 6568. Planned using PhotoPills, Stellarium and Astropheric." Abels continued.

Our very own content manager Josh Dinner captured this incredible image of the total solar eclipse over his hometown Bloomington, Indiana.

An eclipse time-lapse composite image shows the progression of a solar eclipse, framing totality in the middle in a darkening sky above a small Indiana town featuring a domed limestone courthouse at its center.
An eclipse time-lapse composite image shows the progression of a solar eclipse, framing totality in the middle in a darkening sky above a small Indiana town featuring a domed limestone courthouse at its center.

Not only did he take some incredible photos of the eclipse but he proposed during totality! You can read more about his wonderful eclipse proposal experience here.

Belinda Prinz captured the beautiful pink solar prominences during the eclipse from her home in Independence, Ohio.

the eclipse appears as a black circle with a hazy white outline and some bright bring regions on the border between the dark circle and white haze, these are the solar prominences.
the eclipse appears as a black circle with a hazy white outline and some bright bring regions on the border between the dark circle and white haze, these are the solar prominences.

"I was thrilled to capture the pink glow of solar prominences at the beginning of totality." Prinz told Space.com.

"Using a series of shutter speeds paid off, as it was hard to predict ahead which setting would work best.  I also used a remote, focusing once, so I could watch the eclipse and shoot at the same time." Prinz continued.

Josh Dury traveled to Dallas, Texas for the eclipse but it wasn't all plain sailing.

a series of images showing the progression of the total solar eclipse as the moon covers more of the sun's disk.
a series of images showing the progression of the total solar eclipse as the moon covers more of the sun's disk.

"I managed to make it to Dallas, Texas, but I must admit, it was a battle with the cloud," Dury told Space.com

"But such an amazing event to be shared by all." Dury continued.

The solar eclipse looks particularly fierce in a "miracle" image taken from Kimball Bend Park in Central Texas by Space.com reader Justin Maune.

a black circle in the center which is the sun covered by the moon with a large white halo surrounding it, this is the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere.
a black circle in the center which is the sun covered by the moon with a large white halo surrounding it, this is the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere.

"I traveled 30 hours from SoCal [Southern California] to Texas to see this," Maune told Space.com.

"The clouds were looking terrible. Overcast. And then it cleared. Like a miracle, 10 minutes before totality, the sky was clear, and I was able to snap this pic." Maune continued.

Now, I know I said "14 of the best eclipse photos" but I couldn't resist adding this bonus one. This adorable image was sent in by Lisa Cattanach, showing four-legged friends Lily and Bo donning their eclipse swag in Paducah, Kentucky.

two dachshunds wearing solar eclipse glasses.
two dachshunds wearing solar eclipse glasses.

Thank you to everyone who sent in their eclipse photos to us! It was a tough job shortlisting just 14 images (plus one bonus one!) for this piece. I hope you all enjoyed seeing these eclipse photos as much as we did.

We've got some seriously talented readers out there, without your contributions we wouldn't be able to write stories like this. Thank you.

If you have any photographs you'd like to share with Space.com please email us at spacephotos@space.com.