Solar Eclipse – April 8, 2024

We took a break and went to Fredericksburg, Texas with The Planetary Society to see the Total Solar Eclipse. In the days leading up to it, I was not liking the forecast for the 8th. It was predicting overcast the whole day. We packed up the car anyway and headed down on the Saturday before. The weather was nice the whole way down. We set up camp and waited for Monday. The perfectly clear night skies were amazing. So many more stars than we can see from home.

The weather on Sunday was almost equally as good as Saturday. But as the day went on some clouds started moving in. When we woke up Monday the sky was completely overcast. The one hope was that since there were two different cloud layers we might get a hole. The lower clouds were moving quickly and were patchy rather than solid. The upper layer was broken and had a lot of openings. When the partial phase of the eclipse started, we were further encouraged by the fact that there appeared to be frequent openings in the low clouds that allowed us to follow the partial phase.

Then at totality we got a good open hole and there it was.

I didn’t get many pictures of it but the experience was amazing, just as it had been in 2017. This time though we got something new. In 2017 the sun was near a solar minimum so there were very few solar prominences. This time the sun is near the solar maximum and there were several prominences all around the circumference of the sun. One on the lower right was quite large and bright.

The experience is amazing and if you get a chance to see a total eclipse I say go for it. It is an amazing experience. As the eclipse progresses you notice a change in the temperature. The look of the light appears different. Animals start to change their behavior. One thing we noticed was an anthill near our tent. At the beginning of the partial phase the ants were busy with their normal chores. Going in and out of the mound. At totality, the ants all went into the anthill and did not start to reappear until totality was over.

Eclipses are rare only for any particular spot on the earth. But worldwide, they occur fairly often. About one every couple of years. Of course many occur over the oceans, and other out of the way places. The next one to cover the continental US isn’t until 2045, when it will go from northern California to Cape Canaveral Florida.

There are travel groups that target eclipses all over the world. So, if you really do want to see a total eclipse, the fastest way would be to travel to where it is. 2026 has a total eclipse that traces through Greenland, Iceland and Spain. Then there is one in 2027 that covers northern Africa and the western Arabian peninsula.

This one was great (even with the clouds). My previous one was wonderful and if I don’t travel to another one there’s a chance I can catch 2045 eclipse that will pass directly through my home town. Hopefully, I live that long.