Texans are among the millions of stargazers preparing for two celestial events. On Saturday, Oct. 14, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. 

In the U.S., the annular solar eclipse begins in Oregon at 9:13 a.m. Pacific time and ends in Texas at 12:03 p.m. Central time.

Annular means “ring” and during this celestial event, the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but not entirely. Instead of completely covering the sun’s disk, the moon leaves a fiery ring-like edge, or “ring of fire,” visible to observers. This phenomenon occurs because the moon is near its apogee, or the farthest point from Earth in its orbit. As a result, its apparent size is slightly smaller than that of the sun.

In North Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, viewers will witness the eclipse at varying degrees of totality. The degree of totality represents how much of the sun’s disk is covered by the moon. For this annular eclipse, the degree of totality will range from approximately 80% in Dallas to 90% in the Panhandle region. Since the sun is not completely blocked by the moon it’s never safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing such as special glasses. You can also use an indirect viewing method, such as a pinhole in a piece of cardboard.

Collin College is holding an eclipse watching party from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Safe viewing events featuring specialized telescopes and solar glasses will be available at the Wylie Campus, 391 Country Club Road in Wylie, in the outdoor commons area.

Roughly 80% of the sun will be obscured for North Texas residents during the Oct. 14 annular partial solar eclipse, providing an exceptional opportunity to view a stunning solar event. Looking at the sun without proper equipment can damage viewers’ vision. 

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun and casting a shadow onto the Earth as the sky darkens.

Observers within the path of totality will experience the rare and breathtaking sight of the sun’s corona, a pearly, wispy halo of plasma that is usually hidden by the sun’s brilliance.

The path of totality for the 2024 eclipse will sweep across parts of North and East Texas, offering viewers in cities like Waco, Tyler, and Texarkana the opportunity to witness this extraordinary event. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the degree of totality will be around 94%, providing an impressive, but not quite total, eclipse experience.

San Antonio will experience 100% totality and Angela Speck, physics and astronomy professor at UT-San Antonio, said it will be 2044 before any part of Texas will experience another total eclipse. 

Speck said that eclipses are not just a visual event: “Right before a total eclipse, the birds get loud and then when it goes dark, they are quiet.” 

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