To see totality you have to be between the lines:
The biggest misunderstanding I’ve found while talking with people about the solar eclipse is close is not good enough. You have to be between the lines to experience totality. And totality is an experience. I think most of us have seen a partial solar eclipse. We just had one in October of 2023. Partial eclipses are cool but they aren’t awe inspiring. And the number one emotion people feel seeing a total solar eclipse is awe.
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Understanding the lines:
Where you see totality is also important. The closer you are to the center line, the more time in totality you get. The longest duration for this eclipse is northeast of Durango, Mexico with 4 minutes and 28 seconds of totality. In Texas, being on the edge of the line is great, but the time in totality is less. The one good thing about being near the edge is you have a better chance of seeing Baily’s Beads and the chromosphere. Here’s an animation of the path through the United States and the change in duration of totality along the center line. I’ve been tracking the eclipse forecast since last week. It has been consistently bad (cloudy) for the state of Texas.
A note to those close to the edge:
On April 8th you want to make sure you are inside the path of totality. I have friends and family in San Antonio, Texas and most of the city is not inside the path. If you are at the Alamo or the San Antonio Zoo you are just outside the line at 99.9%. This is the difference between holding a sparkler on the 4th of July to being in the front row of a blow out extravaganza. To see if you are in totality go here and zoom in.
The last total solar eclipse that went over the city of San Antonio was in 1397!