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How to watch the total solar eclipse

Don't live near the path of totality? No problem! You can livestream the big event.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Matt Elliott
3 min read

If you will be outside the path of totality, stuck inside at work, or under overcast skies for Monday's total solar eclipse, it doesn't mean you need to miss the celestial show. There will be plenty of ways to livestream the eclipse online. Here are some of the best options:

NASA TV

NASA TV will have a livestream across the path of totality, from Oregon to South Carolina. You'll see views from 11 spacecraft, at least three NASA aircraft and more than 50 high-altitude balloons, and hear from the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. On the ground, you'll get live reports from Salem, Oregon; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Beatrice, Nebraska; Jefferson City, Missouri; Carbondale, Illinois; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Clarksville, Tennessee; and Charleston, South Carolina. You can tune into NASA TV's "Eclipse Across America" livestream here as well as on Facebook Live, YouTube, PeriscopeTwitch TV and Ustream. Live coverage begins 12 p.m. ET.

The Weather Channel and Twitter

The Weather Channel has partnered with Twitter to livestream the eclipse at eclipse2017.twitter.com . Coverage begins at 12 p.m. ET and will include live reports from 10 spots along the path of totality, from coast to coast including Hopkinsville, Kentucky, which is near where totality will last the longest and where strange things might happen.

USA Today and Instagram

The USA Today Network is teaming up with Instagram for a livestream. You'll have to jump around USA Today's various outlets to follow the action. Here's the schedule:

CNN

CNN is throwing 4K, 360-degree cameras at the eclipse. Its "Eclipse of the Century" livestream begins at 1 p.m. ET on CNN.com/eclipse. You will also be able to watch a Facebook Live 360 video on CNN's Facebook page. Better yet, use the eclipse-glasses shortage as an excuse to finally buy a VR headset; you'll be able watch CNN's 360-degree livestream on the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift.

CBS News

CBS News will livestream the eclipse on CBSN, its streaming platform beginning at 12 p.m. ET. At 1 p.m. ET, a live CBS Special Report will begin on CBSN and CBS News' Facebook page. (Disclaimer: CBS owns CNET.)

YouTube

Many livestreams of the eclipse will be available on a variety of YouTube pages, including ABC News, Discovery's Science Channel, Exploratorium, PBS NewsHour, Telemundo, Univision and the Washington Post.

If you want to experience the total solar eclipse IRL, you'll need a pair of eclipse glasses (and not fakes) or a DIY pinhole projector. If you will be mobile on August 21, then here are the best apps for watching the eclipse.

Read more: Total solar eclipse 2017: Your complete guide