On August 21st, people of North America witnessed the first total solar eclipse in 38 years. Since looking directly at the Sun can lead to permanent eye damage, people had to wear special eye protection. Sadly, the solar eclipse was mostly limited to the United States. The solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and thus blocking the Sun. The phenomenon is called ‘occultation’ in astronomy, and it can be either stellar or solar. The United States will witness the exact occultation in about 35 years, namely on March 30, 2052.

Eclipses have always fascinated human kind, if not scared. The ancient Chinese thought than an evil dragon devoured the sun, while the Koreans thought that fire dogs tried to steal it instead. Similarly, Norse cultures thought that wolves were the culprits. In North American folklore, a bear took a bite from the Sun. The Vietnamese believed a giant toad was the sun-eating for. The Mayans thought it was a giant serpent, while the Hungarians believed it was a giant bird. So each an every culture would try to make noises to scare the demons and the beasts away. Other cultures believed that the Sun and the Moon were fighting.

Be it devouring, stealing, or fighting, people used mythology to explain their curiosity towards the astral phenomena. Here is a collection of 15 fantastic solar eclipse photographs found on Instagram.

Ted Hesser

The Weather Channel

Simon Lachapelle

Instagram

NASA

Alexander Thian

Morteza Safataj

shotiful

Nick Page

Zach Lipson

Dave Krugman

Chris Burkard

Land Rover USA

Earth Focus

David – loc0man – The IT Guys

Did you happen to witness the solar eclipse? Where were you when it occurred? If not, tell us which photograph is the most breath-taking. Here is a list of solar eclipses in this century, so you won’t miss the next one. And not to miss anything we share, subscribe for daily snippets of creative designs!