An eclipse to remember

Throughout Erath County and Texas, many gathered outdoors Saturday, Oct. 14 to view the annular solar eclipse.

An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun but it is too far from Earth to completely obscure it. The moon is at or near its farthest distance from Earth – known as its apogee during an annular eclipse, making it look smaller in the sky. This leaves the sun’s edges exposed in a red-orange ring, dubbed the “ring of fire.”

The eclipse began in Erath County around 10:30 a.m. with the peak being at 11:51 a.m. and ending at 1:28 p.m.

AtTarletonStateUniversity, an eclipse watching party took place where students and citizens were provided free glasses to be able to watch the eclipse safely and telescopes were set out for viewing. Special physics presentationsandplanetarium shows were also offered and the evening was topped off with a Star Party.

Glasses were also available at the Dublin Public Library.

A total solar eclipse will darken skies from Texas to Maine Monday, April 8, 2024. Dublin Public Library will have glasses available for this event as well.

With two solar eclipses passing through Texas within six months, the state is expected to have thousands of visitors for both events.

During the total eclipse, the moon will start to block the sun around noon on April 8. Totality will begin at 1:30 pm near Del Rio and trace a line northeast across Texas.

Totality will last from a few seconds to about 4.5 minutes depending on where you are along the path.