
The First Family gathered on the White House balcony to watch the first total solar eclipse to sweep across America in 99 years.

President Donald Trump was joined on the terrace by wife Melania, his children Barron and Ivanka, and cabinet members including Jeff Sessions, for the once-in-a-lifetime event. At one point he even risked blindness by peeking at the sun without eclipse viewer glasses before an aide instructed him to put them on.

Darkness swept across the US on Monday 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.

One stunning picture of the eclipse showed the International Space Station clearly visible in front of the eclipsed sun, while in another, a plane was highlighted against the darkened sun, illuminated only by the solar corona.

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.

A total eclipse of the moon: A composite image of nine pictures shows the progression of a partial solar eclipse near Banner, Wyoming, U.S

Darkness swept across the US on Monday as the eclipse traveled from coast to coast, ending just before 3pm EDT in South Carolina (pictured, the total eclipse in Oregon)

At one point, a plane was highlighted against the darkened sun, illuminated only by the solar corona

Within a couple of minutes the sun began peeking out from behind the moon as it carried on its trajectory over Oregon

The total solar eclipse is the first to sweep across America, stretching from coast to coast, in 99 years

Oregonians caught its first glimpse of eclipse this morning. Pictured is the eclipse taken from Depoe Bay, Oregon, this morning

The International Space Station can clearly be seen in front of the sun, and moon, in this stunning image

The First Family gathered on the White House balcony to watch the first total solar eclipse to sweep across America in 99 years (pictured are President Trump and his wife Melania watching the celestial event on Monday)

President Trump squinted at the sun and pointed skyward before donning protective glasses to view the solar eclipse on Monday

U.S. President Donald Trump watched the solar eclipse with first Lady Melania Trump and son Barron from the Truman Balcony at the White House

White House Senior Adviser Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (L) joined them on the balcony to watch the solar eclipse

A partial solar eclipse is seen near the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York, Monday

People gathered near Redmond, Oregon, to view the sun as it neared a total eclipse by the moon, Monday

Pictured is the last few moments before the total eclipse at the Rosencrans Memorial airport near St Josephs Missouri as darkness fell

U.S. Navy sailors Soloman Rucker (Front) and Peyton Warner check the position of the sun on the flight deck of the Naval museum ship U.S.S. Yorktown during the Great American Eclipse in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

A crowd gathered in front of the Hollywood sign at the Griffith Observatory to watch the solar eclipse in Los Angeles

Members of the media watched the solar eclipse at the White House in Washington, as it passed through the US

White House staff and members of the White House press corps smiled as they watched the eclipse with solar glasses

The Naked Cowboy played his guitar while wearing solar viewing glasses for the eclipse at Times Square in Manhattan, New York

Even the living statues in New York had their eclipse viewing glasses at the ready for the once-in-a-lifetime event

Jenney Vaverde, 42, viewed the solar eclipse at Times Square in Manhattan, New York on Monday. New Yorkers only got a partial glimpse of the eclipse, seeing around 50 to 70 per cent of the sun covered by the moon

Festival goers watched the start of the solar eclipse and raise their hands in prayer at the Oregon Eclipse Festival at Big Summit Prairie ranch

People watched the start of the solar eclipse and raised their hands in prayer in an eclipse viewing event led by Native American elders, at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest

Thousands gathered for a seven-day eclipse festival at theBig Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest near the city of Mitchell

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.

'The show has just begun, people! What a gorgeous day! Isn't this great, people?' Jim Todd, a director at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, told a crowd of thousands at an amphitheater in Salem, Oregon, as the moon seemed to take an ever-bigger bite out of the sun and temperature soon dropped noticeably.

Thousands of festival goers also traveled to the Oregon Eclipse Festival at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest - a seven day international gathering celebrating the total solar eclipse.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) had warned drivers that the eclipse could cause some of the worst traffic jams in the state's history. And traffic along many roads did grind to a halt this morning as many traveled to the state's national parks to try and get an unobscured view of the natural phenomena.

With 200 million people within a day's drive from the path of totality, towns and parks saw big crowds. Clear skies beckoned along most of the route, to the relief of those who feared cloud cover would spoil this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

The lunar shadow of the total solar eclipse entered the United States near Lincoln City, Oregon at 9.05am (PST) and totality began at 10.18am (PST). The eclipse ended in Charleston, South Carolina at 2.48pm (EST), and the lunar shadow left the country at 4.09pm (EST)

The eclipse began on the West Coast in Oregon at 10.19am (PST) and made its way across the country to South Carolina at 2.41pm (EST)

People living in the northwest part of the country saw a total, or 100 per cent eclipse, while others only saw a percentage of the sun eclipsed by the moon

The total solar eclipse was seen from the Lowell Observatory Solar Eclipse Experience August 21, 2017 in Madras, Oregon. Although it looks like nighttime, the picture was taken mid-morning PDT time, during the eclipse

Clouds break to show the partial solar eclipse behind the cross of St Mary's Catholic Church in Janesville, Wisconsin on Monday

The moon eclipses the sun above the Washington Monument during the so-called 'Great American Eclipse' in Washington

The moon eclipsed the sun near the Washington Monument. Eighty one percent of the sun was obscured in DC; the thin path of totality, where viewers were treated to a total eclipse, passed through portions of 14 US states

B.J. Dini from the 'Hermitage of the Golden Dawn' movement conducted a ceremony as he viewed the start of the total solar eclipse at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California

George H W Bush tweeted a picture of four generations of the family taking in the partial eclipse today (pictured)

Carlos Omar Gardinet placed viewing glasses over his phone to photograph a total solar eclipse from the Phillip and Patricia Frost Science Museum, Miami

A fashion designer who gave her name as 'Nonsense' watched a total solar eclipse from the roof of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Science Museum

A crowd wore protective glasses as they watched the beginning of the solar eclipse from Salem, Oregon on Monday

Lee Cooper, from England, wore his protective glasses to watch the beginning of the solar eclipse from Salem, Oregon

Gabby Correa (C) photographed the sun and moon as a partial solar eclipse took place outside the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California

Passengers viewed the solar eclipse from an Alaska Airlines commercial jet over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Depoe Bay, Oregon

Nicola James, 49, (right center) with her twin 18 year old daughters Holly (left center) and Grace (left rear) watched the start of the solar eclipse while flying over the United States on board Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight check VS5 from London's Heathrow airport to Miami

Maddalyn Back, 7th grader at Academy of Innovation, reacted to viewing the partial solar eclipse in Vicksburg, Mississippi

People looked at the solar eclipse at the National Mall in Washington where the eclipse lasted more than two minutes

'It's like nothing else you will ever see or ever do,' said veteran eclipse-watcher Mike O'Leary of San Diego, who set up his camera along with among hundreds of other amateur astronomers gathered in Casper, Wyoming. 'It can be religious. It makes you feel insignificant, like you're just a speck in the whole scheme of things.'

The total eclipse of the sun is considered one of the most spell-binding phenomena in nature but it rarely occurs over a wide swath of land, let alone one of the world's most heavily populated countries at the height of summer.

In terms of audience, it is hard to top the United States, with its mobile and affluent population, even though the direct path is mostly over rural areas, towns and small cities. The largest is Nashville, Tennessee, a city of 609,000 residents.

Even so the advent of social media and inexpensive high-tech optics meant unprecedented viewership for the so-called 'Great American Eclipse.'

Oregon was the first state to witness the total solar eclipse and by 10.20am the sun was completely blocked out except for a halo-like solar corona (seen from Oregon)

The state was plunged into darkness during the first total solar eclipse in decades as the celestial event-of-a-lifetime begins to sweep across the US

After a few minutes, a sliver of light was seen escaping from behind the moon as it carried on its trajectory

Thousands gathered in the small town of Salem, Oregon (pictured is the eclipse at around 9.50am PDT from Salem) to get a glimpse of the event

Another shot of the eclipse taken from Madras, Oregon, around 100 miles away from Salem, at around the same time

Darkness fell across Depoe Bay, in Oregon as people watched the total eclipse from the bridge

The sun's corona only is visible during a total solar eclipse between the Solar Temples at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest

Astronomers were giddy with excitement. A solar eclipse is considered one of the grandest of cosmic spectacles.

NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, enjoyed the moon's 'first bites out of the sun' from a plane flying over the Oregon coast and declared it 'just an incredible view' just 30 minutes before Oregon's total eclipse.

'I'm about to fight this man for a window seat,' Lightfoot said, referring to a fellow NASA official.

Citizen scientists also monitored animal and plant behavior as daylight turned into twilight and the temperature dropped. Thousands of people streamed into the Nashville Zoo just to watch the animals' reaction.

The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one, to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet. But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or Earth's poles. This is the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (L) and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also watched the solar eclipse from the Truman Balcony at the White House in Washington

From left, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, and their son Barron Trump, viewed the solar eclipse

Barron appeared uninterested in the once-in-a-lifetime phenomena, and stood behind his parents, not watching the event, as they donned their glasses and stared at the eclipse

From left, Ivanka Trump, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, son Barron Trump and his daughter Ivanka, viewed the solar eclipse, from their White House home

Mexican players put on solar eclipse glasses for a television spot, just before a Little League World Series game against Asia-Pacific in Volunteer Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania

A New Yorker is pictured showing off her eclipse viewer glasses ready for the celestial event

Annie Gray Penuel and Lauren Peck, both of Dallas, wore their makeshift eclipse glasses at Nashville's eclipse viewing party at First Tennessee Park on Monday

Ariana Mareyev (10) of Charleston wore several pairs of solar glasses on the flight deck of the Naval museum ship U.S.S. Yorktown during the Great American Eclipse in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina - the final sighting of the eclipse

A man held up special solar glasses after getting them outside the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC

Jonathan Moric, left, and Finn Power, both of Vancouver, lay back, to watch the eclipse in a park in Salem, Oregon

Members of the Marching Salukis entered Saluki Stadium for eclipse festivities on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Monday

Mike Newchurch, left, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and graduate student Paula Tucker are pictured preparing a weather balloon before releasing it to perform research during the solar eclipse Monday on the Orchard Dale historical farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Scientists said the total eclipse cast a shadow that raced 2,600 miles through 14 states, entering near Lincoln City, Oregon, at 1:16 p.m. EDT, moving diagonally across the heartland over Casper, Wyoming, Carbondale, Illinois, and Nashville, Tennessee, and then exiting near Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:47 p.m. EDT.

Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois saw the longest stretch of darkness: 2 minutes and 44 seconds.

All of North America got at least a partial eclipse, along with Central America and the top of South America.

Joe Roth, an amateur photographer, traveled south from the Chicago area to Alto Pass, Illinois, to catch his first total solar eclipse — on his 62nd birthday, no less. He said the stars aligned for him — 'a Kodak moment for me to cherish and experience.'

Kim Kniseley drove overnight from Roanoke, Virginia, arriving in Madisonville, Tennessee, before dawn to get a parking spot at Kefauver Park, where by sunrise dozens of folks had claimed benches and set up tents.

He said he could have stayed home in Roanoke and seen a partial eclipse of 90 percent, but that would have been like 'going to a rock concert and you're standing in the parking lot.'

This beautiful image showed the Solar Eclipse, New York. All of North America got at least a partial eclipse, along with Central America and the top of South America.

Ayana Moreland (pictured) of Charlotte, N.C. basks in the solar eclipse from the rooftop of the Discovery Place parking deck on Monday, in Charlotte

A girl attends a solar eclipse viewing event at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles wearing her solar eclipse glasses

From left, Alec Gold, Zachery Halbert and his grandmother, Carol Halbert, all of Philadelphia, watch the eclipse on the beach in Margate, New Jersey

White House staffers look skyward at the at the partial eclipse of the sun from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC

Not all the hoopla unfolded on dry land. Welsh pop singer Bonnie Tyler performed her 1983s hit single 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' aboard a cruise liner as the vessel sailed into the path of totality from Florida on Monday

Good Morning America, who covered the performance, tweeted she was 'eclipsing our hearts' after the show

Celebrities and politicians were also excitedly tweeting about the eclipse, including Ivanka Trump, Kim Kardashian and Ellen

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is actually in South Carolina on a boat with her family so she can witness the eclipse. The mother-of-two shared a video to her Instagram page and said it's the most 'thrilling' event

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow shared a photo to her Instagram page with her son, Moses, as they both held eclipse protective eye-wear up to their faces and over their sunglasses.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer shared a photo of himself wearing the glasses on Twitter and wrote, 'I'm ready. #SolarEclipse2017.'

Ellen said she had no plans to miss the event and had been 'staring at the sun all morning'

Kylie Jenner and her best friend Jordyn Woods (above) stood outside to take a gaze at the sky with their protective eye-wear

Not all the hoopla unfolded on dry land. Welsh pop singer Bonnie Tyler performed her 1983s hit single 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' aboard a cruise liner as the vessel sailed into the path of totality from Florida on Monday.

Back on the ground, forest rangers, police and city managers in the total eclipse zone helped manage the crush of travelers which descended to watch the eclipse.

'Imagine 20 Woodstock festivals occurring simultaneously across the nation,' Michael Zeiler, an AAS advisory panel member wrote on his website, GreatAmericanEclipse.com, referring to the famously chaotic 1969 outdoor rock extravaganza in upstate New York.

Zeiler, an avowed 'eclipse chaser' who made the 650-mile drive from his New Mexico home to Wyoming for a choice view, said before the event that South Carolina was likely to see the greatest influx as the destination state closest to the entire U.S. Eastern seaboard.

Quentin Wagner, 10, watches a partial solar eclipse with his father Daniel on Monday, at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington

Luke Johnson, 6, looks at the partial solar eclipse through a Newtonian reflector telescope with solar filter on Monday at the Imperial Centre in Rocky Mount, N.C.

One sun revellers wore his glasses for the partial solar eclipse in Toronto, Canada

A man dressed up as the Statue of Liberty watches the partial solar eclipse in New York City

A family watch the partial solar eclipse in New York on Monday. A once-in-a-century total solar eclipse spanned the continental United States

Topless performer the Naked Cowboy seen admiring the Solar Eclipse 2017 in Times Square in New York City

This photo shows solar flares as the sun emerges from the total eclipse by the moon (taken in Dayton, Tennessee)

A man vapes as he watches the solar eclipse from Clingmans Dome, which at 6,643 feet (2,025m) is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

People in Washington DC at the Lincoln Memorial watch the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States from coast to coast in 99 years

The view from Washington DC as the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States from coast to coast in 99 years

Revellers watch a partial solar eclipse in New York City as people across the country took in the spectacle

A total eclipse swept through the tiny town of Spring City, Tennessee on Monday afternoon. Thousands from all over the United States and a few from around the world flocked to the city with a population of under 2,000

People watch a partial solar eclipse through DIY cereal in New York City on Monday

A screen showing a live broadcast of solar eclipse in the United States is seen at the Times Square in New York

An elederly woman sitting on the floor to witness the partial solar eclipse in Toronto, Canada

A little boy uses his solar viewing glasses to watch as the sun disappeared behind the moon over Depoe Bay, Oregon

People are pictured testing pinhole eclipse viewers in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum on the National Mall before the eclipse

People line up on a bridge as the sun emerges through fog cover before the solar eclipse in Depoe Bay, Oregon

People attend a solar eclipse watch party at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Georgia,

Virginia Webb arrives to watch the solar eclipse at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Georgia

Val Carney, from Asheville, North Carolina, writes in the sand in preparation for the solar eclipse. The total solar eclipse, already seen in Oregon, will move through the States over the next 90 minutes

Today's event was the first total solar eclipse spanning the entire continental United States since 1918 and the first visible anywhere in the Lower 48 states in 38 years.

The next one over North America is due in just seven years, in April 2024.

Schools in the path of the eclipse seized on ready-made science lesson for students.

A fourth-grade class at a suburban Kansas City school erupted in wonder when they tried on their solar eclipse glasses for the first time and turned toward the sun for an eclipse 'practice.'

'The sun looks like the moon!' 'It's really dark!' 'There's just a little circle of light!' 'It's just a speck up there!'

WHAT HAPPENS DURING AN ECLIPSE During a total solar eclipse, the moon completely blocks the face of the sun, NASA explains. This reveals the 'pearly white halo' of the sun's corona – its outer atmosphere, which is invisible to the naked eye at all other times. For this phenomenon to take place, the moon and the sun must be perfectly aligned, allowing the moon to appear as though it's the exact size of the sun. Advertisement

The students at Clardy Elementary School in North Kansas City were practicing the proper use of the glasses Friday in anticipation of the event.

Their teacher, Christy Lister, had gone through slides detailing how and when to wear the glasses, how to care for them and proper behavior during the eclipse.

It was only the third day of the school year, but the students had already talked about eyes, the solar system and other eclipse-related topics.

The district's teachers and administrators began planning for the big event last May and worked through the summer on age-specific activities for the district's 20,000 students.

The activities included kindergartners using beads that react to ultraviolet light from the sun, while others conducted experiments measuring atmospheric changes during the eclipse or create solar viewers with 3-D printers.

U.S. schools along and near the coast-to-coast path where the sun were totally blacked out by the moon during the eclipse are taking widely varying approaches.

While some districts seized the opportunity for ready-made lessons, others closed for the day or kept kids inside because of safety concerns.

In Idaho, districts in and around Twin Falls used the day for science education, while many districts in the eastern part of the state either canceled school or started a day later.

In Wyoming, the Laramie School District moved the first day of school to Tuesday after the superintendent said he had 'grossly underestimated' the event's significance.

Rain, cloud and fog is forecast today across the Midwest including parts of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Wisconsin, obscuring residents' views of the eclipse

The good news for the rest of the US, which is predicted to have clear and sunny skies by this afternoon, offering a perfect view of the lunar event

Map of the drive time to the center-line of the eclipse, this map does not take into account extremely heavy traffic in areas that are currently seeing swells of revelers

People set up cameras and telescopes as they prepare to watch the total eclipse at South Mike Sedar Park on August 21, 2017 in Casper, Wyoming. Millions of people have flocked to areas of the U.S. that are in the 'path of totality' in order to experience a total solar eclipse

Jim Cleveland, of Shelbyville, Ky., sets up a camera at his campsite at sunrise as he prepares for the solar eclipse Monday, August 21, 2017, on the Orchard Dale historical farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky

North Kansas City found the educational opportunity irresistible, said Jill Hackett, a deputy superintendent.

'Students will gain a lot more by watching, discussing what they see with their teachers and other students,' she said. 'I think it will be extraordinary.'

Across the country, American Indian tribes observed the eclipse in similar and not-so-similar ways.

Some tribal members ignored it, others watched while praying for an anticipated renewal, and those in prime viewing spots welcomed visitors with storytelling, food and celebration.

For the Crow Tribe in Montana, the eclipse coincided with the Parade Dance at the annual Crow fair, marking the tribe's new year.

Many American Indian tribes revere the sun and moon as cultural deities, great sources of power and giver of life.

WHEN WILL THE NEXT SOLAR ECLIPSES TAKE PLACE? If you missed this year's solar eclipse, you can see the next one in seven years. The next US solar eclipse will take place on April 8th, 2024, passing from Texas to Maine, with the Canadian city of Montreal being able to see the totality as well. The next total solar eclipse after that will place at August 12, 2026, and will be seen from the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Northeastern Portugal. On September 2nd, 2035, a large number of people in China, northern Japan and Korea will witness a total solar eclipse. Between 2023 and 2038, the greatest number of total solar eclipses will take place in Australia: There will be five solar eclipses visible from the continent between April 20th, 2023 and December 26th, 2038. Advertisement

The Crow's cultural director, William Big Day, said the sun is believed to die and come back to life during an eclipse.

In more nomadic days, Crows would offer each other 'good wishes' for their travels, and elders would advise them to do a cleansing ceremony to start anew, he said.

U.S. Bureau of Indian Education spokeswoman Nedra Darling said the agency's schools, most of which are on the Navajo Nation, were given the option of closing Monday.

HOW TO SAFELY WATCH AN ECLIPSE Experts warn that everyone who plans to look skyward when the solar eclipse sweeps across the country Monday should have the proper protective eyewear or risk lasting blind spots. Regular sunglasses will not do, the US space agency says. Only eclipse glasses that have a certification with 'ISO 12312-2 international standard' are safe for use, according to NASA. More than 6,800 libraries across nationwide are distributing safety-certified glasses. Other options are number 14 welder's glass, or making a pinhole projector that allows a user to project the image of the Sun on paper or cardboard. Eye doctors urge strict adult supervision for eclipse watchers under 16 years old. 'The dangers of looking at the Sun are real and serious,' said Vincent Jerome Giovinazzo, director of ophthalmology at Staten Island University Hospital, Northwell Health. 'The damage can really be permanent and right smack in the center of their vision.' Advertisement

Navajo Nation employees have Monday off, and other schools on and off the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah earlier decided to close in respect of the culture that teaches that looking at the sun during an eclipse can be harmful not only to one's eyesight but for overall well-being.

'You're welcoming negativity into your life, or turmoil, or troublesome times ahead of you, as well as socially, health-wise and spiritually,' Baldwin said.

'You're observing something that should not be observed.'

Farther east near the Great Smoky Mountains, the Eastern Cherokee tribe was expecting thousands of spillover visitors from the national park.

Outside of humans, animals in the of the total solar eclipse have a big surprise awaiting them on Monday afternoon, biologists say.

Zoos, aquariums and other wildlife parks saw the celestial phenomenon as a special research opportunity to observe how birds and mammals react when the moon's shadow blots out most of the sun's light in the middle of the day, experts say.

The South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, the last spot over which the total eclipse passed during its coast-to-coast journey, carefully monitored the behavior of creatures during the minute and 36 seconds the area went dark.

Biologists set up video cameras in the Salt Marsh Aviary and Mountain Forest exhibits to gather data.

In general, researchers were not particularly concerned that the sudden mid-afternoon darkness will upset animals too much even though the eclipse's approach will come as a complete surprise to them.

'A little bit of excitement in the days of the animals is a good thing,' said aviculturist Monty Wallace. 'You don't want the same thing happening to you everyday.'

An 'early eclipse' of the sun on Sunday outside of Madras as a hot air balloon drifted past the Madras Municipal Airport

The aerial photo above shows the estimated 30,000 people who have created their own temporary community on the grounds where the festival is being held in Big Summit Festival attendees in Oregon are in one of the perfect spots in the United States to see the rare eclipse on Monday in totality

Festival goers dance at the Oregon Eclipse Festival at Big Summit Prairie ranch in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest on Sunday near the city of Mitchell ahead of the total solar eclipse on Monday

New Yorkers are waiting in long lines on Sunday for eclipse glasses. Pictured above is the huge line on Sunday at Adorama Camera Shop in Chelsea

Tattoo artist Chris 'Lunch Box' Schirmer (right) gives a customer a tattoo of an eclipse at Sparxworx on August 20, 2017 in Casper, Wyoming

A volunteer from the California Science Museum uses props to explain movement of the planets, the moon and the sun, during the Solar Eclipse Festival at the California Science Center in Los Angeles

California Power grid managers say they've been preparing extensively for more than a year for this Monday's solar eclipse and that by ramping up other sources of power, mainly hydroelectric and natural gas, they are confident nobody will lose power or see a spike in energy prices

Past solar eclipses have left animals appearing confused, with the disappearing sunlight throwing off their circadian rhythms, research shows.

Birds at Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park fell silent while others flew in the direction of their roosts during an eclipse in 2001, while hippos 'paused and looked nervous,' according to a study published in the journal Astronomy and Geophysics.

The Charleston aquarium's aviary exhibit is home to two pelicans, six different types of ducks, two white ibises, two types of seagulls and two herons.

One of them, a yellow-crowned night heron, is nocturnal, while the other, a little blue heron, is active during the day.

'I'm interested to see the different behaviors that they would have naturally occurring but at a wrong time of the day, being in the middle of the day when the eclipse happens,' Wallace said.

The nocturnal heron may forage for food instead of hiding in a tree, its normal daytime behavior, the biologist said, while the little blue heron may take refuge in the trees out of fear of nocturnal predators.

Kendle Enter, who works as the animal behaviorist senior biologist at the aquarium, is not expecting any changes in the behavior of two river otters in the Mountain Forest exhibit.

At midday on Monday, when the moon's shadow will begin to cross the sun in Charleston, the otters are usually sleeping, she said. Totality is expected at 2.46pm, after the otters awaken from their naps.

'They're either going to sleep through it or they're going to wake up, expecting their food,' Enter said.

On its website, NASA recommended solar eclipse watchers find out for themselves how animals behave during the eclipse by simply observing pets or local wildlife.