Hill Country Eclipse Portal
Annular and Total Solar Eclipses Coming to Texas
The Hill Country is playing center stage to two phenomenal solar events. On Saturday, October 14, 2023, the region experienced an annular solar eclipse and a total solar eclipse will take place almost six months later, on Monday, April 8, 2024. Where will you be?
Annular and Total Solar Eclipses coming to Texas
In the next year, the Hill Country will play center stage to two phenomenal solar events. On Saturday, October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will occur. A total solar eclipse will take place almost six months later, on Monday, April 8, 2024.
Images courtesy TimeandDate.com
The 2023 eclipse path of annularity will begin on the coast of Oregon and sweep northwest to southeast across the United States. It will enter Texas crossing over the Panhandle Plains and the Permian Basin, making its way down to the Gulf Coast. In the Hill Country, it will be seen as far north as Fredericksburg, as far south as Uvalde, to the west in Rocksprings, and New Braunfels in the east. At the centerline, annularity will last just a few seconds shy of five minutes.
The 2024 eclipse path of totality will play opposite to 2023, entering the United States and Texas at the southeastern-most tip of the Hill Country and making its way northeast, eventually departing up in the Piney Woods region of the state. While some eastern parts of Travis, Hays, Comal, and Bexar counties fall outside of the path of totality, their county’s western areas will bear witness, as will all the other counties of the Hill Country. At the centerline, observers will get almost four and a half minutes of totality.
2023 Annular Solar Eclipse Countdown
2024 Total Solar Eclipse Countdown
But wait…what is an eclipse?
Click to view or download this PDF
Eclipses occur when one object passes in front of another or when an object passes in between two aligned objects. Many objects in our solar system can eclipse each other; however, our Moon, our Sun, and the Earth are most important to us. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. For a solar eclipse to occur, the Moon must pass in between the Earth and the Sun. This passing casts a shadow on the Earth, and only those in the shadow can witness the eclipse. When the Moon is furthest from us (at apogee), only part of the Sun is covered, and this is known as an annular solar eclipse. When the Moon is closest to us (at perigee), the Sun is fully covered, yielding a total solar eclipse. Click here to learn more about solar eclipses.
Hill Country Eclipse Resources
Helpful Links
American Astronomical Society
American Solar Eclipse Company
Interactive Map – Eclipse 2023 (TimeandDate.com)
Interactive Google Map – Eclipse 2024 (TimeandDate.com)
Great American Eclipse
Totality! – Eclipse App
Documents and Guides
Eclipse Lunch and Learn Series
Planning for one solar eclipse is a challenge. Preparing for two back-to-back solar eclipses requires information, organization, and communication beyond the quarterly Hill Country Eclipse Round Table Meetings. To further support our partners and communities, HCA convenes bi-weekly lunch and learn sessions to discuss niche topics specific to eclipse readiness. For more information and to register for the series, click here.
Eclipse Roundtable Series
Since 2020, HCA has convened quarterly round table meetings of task forces across the Hill Country to update one another on preparations, coordinate activities, and resources where practical, and hear from professionals around the country who have experience with eclipse preparations. To learn more and join future Round Table meetings email Dawn@hillcountryalliance.org.
Come for the sun, stay for the stars – and help support the Texas Hill Country!
The Hill Country Alliance is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise public awareness and build community support around the need to preserve the natural resources and heritage of the Central Texas Hill Country. Learn more about our work by subscribing to our newsletter.