Be prepared for the dark day ahead
Total eclipse — and massive crowds — coming April 8
Did you enjoy the annular eclipse that moved across Texas skies in October? Well get ready, ’cause you ain’t seen nothing yet.
On April 8, San Antonio and the Hill Country will be treated to the celestial spectacle of a total eclipse. That’s when the moon completely covers the sun, plunging everyone in the path of totality into complete, if temporary, midday darkness.
Those who’ve experienced both an annular and a total eclipse say the former doesn’t hold a candle to the latter.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, a total eclipse is a 10 while an annular eclipse is only a 2,” said Dave Clark, who runs the online resource Nationaleclipse.com and has seen them both.
To help ready you for an experience of a lifetime, here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the coming eclipse:
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, casting its shadow, or umbra, onto the Earth’s surface. To those who fall under this shadow, in what’s known as the path of totality, the moon appears to cover the sun completely. Those outside this path experience a partial eclipse.
When will the eclipse occur?
April 8. Depending on where you are in Texas, totality will begin some time between 1:27 p.m. and 1:46 p.m.
What’s the best place to view the eclipse?
The path of totality will streak across Texas from the southwest to the northeast, with a number of cities and towns near the center of its path. These include, but are not limited to, Eagle Pass, Uvalde, Bandera, Kerrville, Comfort, Fredericksburg, Johnson City, Waco, Fort Worth and Dallas. Use our interactive map (expressnews.com/projects/ 2024/where-to-watch-april-8eclipse/) to see if you’re in the
path of the eclipse.
What about San Antonio?
The Alamo City will be on the eastern edge of the moon’s shadow, so anything roughly west of I-35 will experience a total eclipse. But it’ll last only about two minutes, compared to four minutes or longer for cities closer to the path’s center.
What’s it like to experience an eclipse?
A total solar eclipse is said to be one of nature’s most spectacular shows. It starts with the moon, which appears as a black disc, slowly sliding across the face of the sun, obscuring more and more until it is blocked completely.
Right before that happens, however, there’s what’s known as the “diamond ring effect,” a sparkly burst as the last bright bits of sunlight stream between the mountains of the moon.
But the big show doesn’t start until the sun is completely blocked and, for several mesmerizing minutes, day becomes night, birds go to roost and temperatures drop noticeably. It’s during this short period of time that the sun’s gauzy outer atmosphere, called the corona, is also visible.
What if it’s cloudy?
Weather’s the wild card when it comes to eclipse viewing. During the annular eclipse in October, the skies over downtown were cloudy until shortly before the eclipse started, clearing up just in time to provide an unobstructed view.
No one knows what the weather will be like on April 8 this year. According to the website timeanddate.com, since 2000, the skies above San Antonio have been cloudy 55% of the time on that day.
Some say a clouded-out eclipse is still a spectacle, however, just a different kind compared to a clear-sky one.
What about crowds?
Expect plenty of traffic leading up to and following the eclipse. Officials in the Hill Country, which will be at the center of the eclipse path, expect as many as 1.8 million celestial sightseers, a crush certain to overwhelm the area’s country roads.
If you’re thinking about taking a day trip to the area, come prepared. During the last total eclipse in the United States in 2017, there were reports of shortages of everything from gasoline to food to ATM cash. Traffic jams stretched as far as 17 miles.
With the eclipse occurring on a Monday, expect a mass exodus immediately afterward as thousands rush to get home in time for school and work the next day. To be on the safe side, be sure to have sufficient supplies of necessities, including medications, to last at least two days.
Lodging is expected to be in short supply, too. As of midfebruary, about 65% of rooms in the Fredericksburg area were already booked, according to the city convention and visitors bureau. As the big day nears, however, occupancy rates are expected to approach 100%, with rooms going for as much as 10 times the usual rate, and many properties requiring multiple-night minimums.
In other words, if you are planning to spend the night, don’t wait too long to book a room.
What do I need to know about safely viewing an eclipse?
Looking directly at the sun is dangerous at any time; it’s just that more people do so during an eclipse.
Ultraviolet and infrared rays produced by the sun can damage the eyes by literally burning the retina, the tissue at the back of the eyeball that’s sensitive to light. Because the retina doesn’t have pain receptors, however, this damage — including blurred vision and temporary or permanent blindness — can occur without people realizing it. That’s why it’s especially important that children not look directly at an eclipse.
The only way to safely view an eclipse is with solar eclipse glasses that filter out these harmful rays.
Look for glasses that comply with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard, printed on the glass frames.
To avoid counterfeits, only buy from manufacturers certified as being reputable by the American Astronomical Society. There’s a list of manufacturers, and links, on the society’s website at eclipse.aas.org/ resources/solar-filters.
The AAS recommends against buying glasses from online marketplaces such as Amazon and ebay because, according to the website, in the run-up to the 2017 eclipse these sites sold products that had not been properly tested and shown to be safe.
Glasses purchased prior to the October’s annular eclipse should still be safe to use, provided they’re not torn otherwise damaged. And while there’s plenty of time to buy online from an approved manufacturer, retail stores such as H-E-B and many gas station convenience stores should also be stocking glasses.
Demand for glasses is bound to increase as the eclipse date approach, so buy them early.