Sign Up for Free Livestreams from Space Telescopes Just in Time for the Solar Eclipse

Bob Adams, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0
Bob Adams, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 | Bob Adams, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0

Don’t have plans to watch the upcoming solar eclipse in person? As long as you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to watch it live from home by signing up for the celestial event streaming service Slooh.

As The Verge reports, Slooh provides livestreams of full moons, comets, and even exploding galaxies, observed through its seven telescopes on the Canary Islands and three more in Chile, for what’s normally a monthly membership fee of $4.95. It also periodically provides free streams of celestial events like meteor showers, planets in opposition, and the occasional super beaver moon.

But starting August 7, Slooh will waive the cost of its basic services. All you have to do is register with the website. Registration includes up to 20 hours a day of prime space views. In the coming weeks viewers will be able to witness the Perseids meteor shower, Cassini’s descent into Saturn, and of course the North American solar eclipse on August 21.

Members willing to pay $4.95 a month to become a Slooh Apprentice will have the power to reserve short periods of time on its telescopes five times a month and point them at different parts of the sky. There's also the Slooh Astronomer package at $24.95 a month which includes unlimited telescope reservations. But whether you're an Apprentice, an Astronomer, or just a casual stargazer, the service is an affordable replacement for a high-powered telescope of your own.