Call Her 'Eclipse': Baby Girl Born on Aug. 21 Gets a Fitting Name

A total solar eclipse — in which the moon blots out the entire face of the sun — crossed over the continental U.S. on Aug. 21, 2017. (Image credit: NASA)

The total solar eclipse of Aug. 21 was an emotional experience for millions of people, but perhaps none so much as Freedom and Michael Eubanks of South Carolina, whose daughter was born on the same day.

The Eubanks' little ray of sunshine arrived at 8:04 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT). At the same time, millions of people were gathered in the path of totality that stretched from Oregon to South Carolina, to see the moon completely blot out the sun. To honor the coincidence of events, the couple decided to name their daughter Eclipse. USA Today has the full story.

This was the first total solar eclipse to cross the contiguous U.S. from coast to coast in almost 100 years. Another total solar eclipse will be visible in the continental U.S. in 2024.

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Calla Cofield joined Space.com's crew in October 2014. She enjoys writing about black holes, exploding stars, ripples in space-time, science in comic books, and all the mysteries of the cosmos. Prior to joining Space.com Calla worked as a freelance writer, with her work appearing in APS News, Symmetry magazine, Scientific American, Nature News, Physics World, and others. From 2010 to 2014 she was a producer for The Physics Central Podcast. Previously, Calla worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (hands down the best office building ever) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. Calla studied physics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is originally from Sandy, Utah. In 2018, Calla left Space.com to join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory media team where she oversees astronomy, physics, exoplanets and the Cold Atom Lab mission. She has been underground at three of the largest particle accelerators in the world and would really like to know what the heck dark matter is. Contact Calla via: E-Mail – Twitter