On April 8, millions of people across North America looked up to the sky as the moon temporarily blocked out the sun during the total solar eclipse. The historic cosmic event, which was also seen from space, was special because of the length of totality — the period when the sun's light was completely obscured — which lasted up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds.
New comet discovered One of the biggest surprises during the total solar eclipse was the discovery of a tiny"sungrazer" comet named SOHO-5008, which was first spotted by an amateur astronomer just hours before the event began. Animals acting oddly For humans, the eclipse is a special event that we can understand and predict in advance. But for animals, totality is a massive shock, and this surprise can trigger some rather interesting behaviors. At the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, lots of animals — including gorillas, tortoises, elephants and bonobos — mistook the darkening sky for dusk and went to return to their indoor areas, CBS News reported.
Network services and cybersecurity company Cloudflare reported that, during the eclipse, internet usage across the path of totality fell as people looked up to the sky. Across the U.S., internet usage dropped by 8% during the eclipse. However, in certain states — including Vermont, Ohio, New Hampshire, Maine, Indiana and Arkansas, parts of which were in the path of totality — internet usage decreased by at least 40% during totality.
Planets can be seen during the eclipse only if they are near our home star in the sky. The extended period of totality experienced by most eclipse observers also increased the chances of seeing the planets.