Total Eclipse Magic: 10 of the Best Photos Taken in Northern Illinois

Missed today's epic total solar eclipse in Illinois? No worries! These photos will help you relive the extraordinary event.

Total Solar Eclipse in Illinois

Wow, what an astronomical spectacle we just witnessed!

Although I neglected to get any eclipse glasses like a big dummy, the 91% total solar eclipse Northern Illinois got to experience this afternoon left me completely amazed.

To view it I made a pinhole projector that allowed me to see the eclipse as it progressed, and the only halfway decent picture I got of the event is this...(I took it before I saw all the NASA warnings not to take direct pictures of the eclipse with your phone. Oops.)

I don't know if I should call it a glare or a reflection, but the image captured beneath the sun was what the eclipse looked like when I took the photo, and I think it's so cool!

If I learned anything about a total solar eclipse today it would be: GET ECLIPSE GLASSES when it comes back around in 2045. My daughters got to watch the eclipse at school today, (with glasses!), and are still raving about how cool the experience was. (Yes, I am completely jealous.) Isn't it amazing how witnessing just a few minutes of celestial wonder can make you feel so emotional and so very small at the same time?!?

If you were unable to witness this rare event in Illinois today, let's live vicariously through some of the amazing photos other people in Northern Illinois captured and share with us on Facebook...

To see more cool eclipse pictures captured all over the Stateline today, check out the full Facebook post, here.

And here are more cool pics to look at when you're done....