Culture

The 21 Best Solar Eclipse Memes

Brace yourselves ... solar eclipse posts are coming.

by Mike Brown

The solar eclipse is almost here. Monday’s lunar event is the first time in 99 years that a total eclipse will cross the United States. Those living in one of the 14 states the spectacle will pass over are in for a treat: the moon will come between the sun and the earth, leaving a ring of light around its surface. Oregon will be first to see the eclipse, at 10:19 a.m. Pacific, and South Carolina will be last at 2:44 p.m. Eastern.

It’s an exciting moment. But as doomsday eclipse theorists declare the event as the end of the world, and stargazing fans develop ingenious ways to shield their eyes from the cosmic rays shining down, the internet has done what it does best and made some hilarious memes. Social media users have taken full advantage of the event to come up with some out-of-this-world takes on this rare astronomical phenomenon. Here are 21 of our favorites:

The creative sun tan

Passing the time

Kahne_Fan/Reddit

When you forget to prepare

Maronti/Reddit

The Simpsons weighs in

G3nzo/Reddit

Coming through

In case you can’t see the eclipse

tomytronics/Reddit

If you don’t get the right eye protection

League_of_leisure/Reddit

Getting the right eye protection

Dr-Pepper-Phd/Reddit

Lookin’ good!

Improvising

What the optometrists are thinking

RufusHalloween/Reddit

Get ready for a flood of photos!

marktheonlyone/Reddit

Ready for the close-up

That’s no moon!

That’s definitely not a moon!

Jyn Erso gets it

Everyone is getting ready

A science explainer

A more accurate explainer

Of course, some people still have jobs to go to

Bias?