Day 12 – Total Eclipse of the Sun, 2024

The first leg of this spring’s trip, and actually the purpose of this trip, began about five years ago. After observing the total solar eclipse of 2017 in eastern Oregon with our kids, we immediately asked, “When and where is the next total eclipse?”

The planning and coordinating for this event came to fruition for our immediate family on April 8th, 2024, a bit southeast of the small Texas town of Goldthwaite on a hillside picnic pullout. Pat and I had travelled 2,972 miles to observe this celestial event, whether or not we would actually see the total eclipse was in doubt until literally about an hour before it began!

The forecast for days had been for clouds, rain and thunderstorms for a swath of Texas from Dallas all the way down to Eagle Pass. The viewing of the solar eclipse totality was in doubt. However, we figured we would go see what we could see. 

We had scouted the area the prior day, so just before sunrise we headed out from camp which would only have about 99% of the eclipse. Some people have asked us, what’s one percent difference? However, for a solar eclipse it does make a huge difference. Unless you are in “the zone of totality”, otherwise known as 100% eclipsed, you cannot look directly at the sun.

Seeing the total eclipse with the naked eye is the difference! You can see the corona, which is a striking light blue color. There are tendrils that appear to waver or shimmer.

About eight in the morning, we secured our spot at the picnic area and settled in to wait and see if the clouds would break up. A bit later, a few more car loads of eclipse viewers arrived. Over the course of the next few hours, the picnic area slowly filled up with people anxiously awaiting the main event.

Young and old, from near or far, the watchers shared stories while waiting. We chatted with folks from San Francisco and others from Germany. Telescopes were set up and cameras were readied. Whoo hoo, the cloud cover began to break up! By about noon, the sky was blue and people were trying out their solar glasses by looking up at the full sun.

The minutes ticked by until the first murmurs of, “It's begun!” were heard among the crowd. The moon was slowly moving into position between the Earth and Sol. The watchers soon were noting the drop in temperature with only a sliver of the sun covered. The light diminished noticeably the more the sun was covered.

Jen’s telescope caught some pretty great pictures of the event. 

During totality, people saw some bright pink flares that we thought were solar flares. However, a bit of research afterward determined that these were actually, “solar prominences”. According to NASA, a solar prominence is, “a large, bright feature extending outward from the sun’s surface.” Another site stated, they were,” ..eruptions of plasma on the surface of the sun.” The pink color was due to hydrogen gas. 

At our location, just ten minutes after totality, the clouds began to roll back it, so we didn’t get the full show of the moon leaving it’s position between Earth and the sun, but we were excited to have seen it at all!

Interested in trying to see the next total eclipse of the sun? Well, in the US that won’t occur until 2044. However, they will have one in Spain during 2026 and then there will be couple in Australia during 2028.

Hmmm, time to start planning?