Monday, the last total solar eclipse visible in the United States since 1979 hit parts of North Carolina. I gathered with friends and family at my brother’s house in Franklin, NC to experience it. The day started out beautifully sunny, with just a few scattered puffy clouds. But, about 10 minutes before totality, a large group of clouds came over us and we were not able to see as much as we had hoped.
The clouds broke a few times, so we did see the full eclipse with the diamond rays coming out as it moved out of totality. That said, we experienced temperature drop, darkness fell quickly and, after two and a half minutes, light seemed to return even quicker. It was truly amazing.
Below are two videos that will allow you to share my experience in 360. If you have a VR headset (like a Google Cardboard headset), try it with these! (Detailed directions below second video).
This 360 timelapsed video encompasses a 20-minute time period before, during, and after the total eclipse.
The 360 video below starts shortly before totality, goes through the 2 minutes and 31 seconds of totality, and ends shortly thereafter.
iPhone and other smartphones
- Click on the video using Safari (recommended) with an iPhone to open
- A popup at the top will ask if you want to open the video in the YouTube app (if you have the app installed).
- Click open and the video will launch in 360 degree mode where you can scroll around the video.
- If you click the icon to enable virtual reality, you can attach the phone to a VR headset and view it.
On a PC desktop or laptop running Windows 10 (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, and Opera Browsers)
- Click on the video above, or use the link to YouTube.
- Press play and you have the ability to scroll around the video 360 degrees either by watching the videos included above or by going to YouTube.
Macs (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer, and Opera Browsers)
- Click on the video above, or use the link to YouTube.
- Press play and you have the ability to scroll around the video 360 degrees either by watching the videos included above or by going to YouTube.
- Noe: If you watch the video using Safari, you will not be able to access VR or 360 degree scrolling mode.
iPad
- In Safari, you can open the video and a popup will ask you if you want to view in YouTube app. If you do so, you can view in 360 degree mode or click the VR button for use with a VR viewer. We recommend iPad users view in Safari.
- Using Google Chrome, the videos will play in the article but without 360 degree scrolling. There is no YouTube button to take you to YouTube.
If you have difficulty using VR or 360-degree mode on the videos above:
Go to the EducationNC YouTube channel
We would love your feedback on what works and what doesn’t as EdNC moves forward with immersive reporting and storytelling. Please email us with questions or suggestions.
