Stare at the sun tonight with NASA's total solar eclipse webcast

A total solar eclipse seen from Russia in 2008.

A total solar eclipse today may only visible from a relatively small swath of the world in person, but anyone across the globe can watch it happen online.

NASA will host a webcast featuring live views of the eclipse from Micronesia and expert commentary provided by scientists.

The space agency will go live with solar eclipse coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET. That webcast will feature raw views of the eclipse through a telescope without commentary.

At 8 p.m. ET, NASA will start a full coverage presentation of the eclipse from the Pacific.

The webcasts will continue through totality, which happens from 8:38 to 8:42 p.m. ET.

You can watch both broadcasts in the windows below, or directly through NASA.

Telescope views, no commentary:

Full coverage, expert commentary:

The total eclipse will be visible in person for some people in parts of western and northern Australia and eastern Asia, with at least a partial phase of the eclipse visible for people in American Samoa, Hawaii, Alaska and other areas, according to NASA.

Some lucky travelers may also have the chance to see the eclipse from the comfort of an airplane seat.

At least a couple airlines have flights that will allow their passengers to see some phase of the eclipse from the sky.

If you do plan to see the solar eclipse live, do not look directly at the sun. The light from the star can still cause serious eye damage.

An eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, blocking the light of the star and casting a shadow on the planet. You can see the eclipse from the bit of the Earth covered by the moon's shadow.

NASA scientists will also be using this eclipse to perform some solar science only possible during this kind of cosmic event.

Researchers will photograph the sun during totality in order to check out the star's inner corona, a part of the sun's atmosphere that can only be seen during total eclipses, NASA said.

“The sun’s atmosphere is where the interesting physics is,” Nelson Reginald, a NASA scientist in Indonesia for the eclipse, said in a statement.