In pictures: Americans look to the skies as total eclipse occurs over the US

MILLIONS across America gathered to look up to the skies for yesterday’s total solar eclipse.

The moon completely obscured the sun for several minutes, plunging most of the US into darkness.

The sun is partially eclipsed in the second phase of a total eclipse in Grand Teton National Park outside Jackson, Wyoming (George Frey/Getty Images)

Looking to the skies at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Locals and travelers from around the world gather on Menan Butte to watch the eclipse, Idaho (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

Southern Illinois experienced the longest duration of totality during the eclipse (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Times Square in New York (Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump was among those viewing the spectacle, and was immediately criticised for appearing to look up at the sun without wearing protective glasses.

Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Viewers at the ‘Top of the Rock’ observatory at Rockefeller Center, New York (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Total Eclipse of the Heart singer Bonnie Tyler performed her hit especially for the occasion on a cruise ship.

(Charles Sykes/Invision for Royal Caribbean International/AP Images)

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas played host to legendary songstress Bonnie Tyler (Charles Sykes/Invision for Royal Caribbean International/AP Images)

There was a view with a difference that only six people saw, however.

Pictures from the International Space Station show the moon’s shadow during the eclipse, witnessed by the astronauts currently on board.

Millions of people saw #Eclipse2017 but only six people saw the umbra, or the moon's shadow, over the United States from space today. pic.twitter.com/hMgMC5MgRh

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) August 21, 2017

Only a small partial eclipse could be viewed in other parts of the world, with cloud cover making even that very difficult in the UK.

The next total eclipse occurs on July 2 2019, visible mainly in South America and above the Pacific.

https://www.facebook.com/NASA/videos/10155523275241772/

We have to wait until September 2090 for a total solar eclipse above us.

There are some partial eclipses, however, slightly sooner.

On August 11 2018, there’ll be a small event visible in the north of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland, with another partial eclipse covering a third to a half of the sun depending on where you are in the UK on June 10 2021.

Stick the dates in your diary!