Author: cjp2

Excellent question. Since I am traveling to the total solar eclipse April 8, 2024, I am using the annular/partial eclipse of October 14, 2023 to rehearse and practice for the total eclipse. Everyone can do a little activity to help prepare.

Here is my suggestion. Do this a few days in advance if possible. Take a piece of thin cardboard, 8.5 X 11″ is a good size. Now imagine a dot matrix printer. Write out a message (“Happy Birthday” or your location, perhaps) using dots. Poke holes where the dots are using a pin. At the time of maximum coverage of the sun, hold the message up and project it onto a white surface (foam core board or such.) Each hole projects an image of the crescent sun! Take pictures. A real memory maker.

In the map above, the darkest line is the region where the annular eclipse will occur. Any place outside of that will see a partial eclipse. The scale at the bottom of the image gives the approximate coverage of the sun by the moon at maximum. The activity is best if you are in an area of at least 50% coverage, which includes all of Mexico, the western half of the USA, the southeast USA and Central America.

If you try this please comment and let me know how it went.

If you have ever looked at photographs of total solar eclipses, you were undoubtedly struck by the glorious corona surrounding the moon-covered sun. If you look at many of these images you will likely notice that the corona has a shape and that that shape is not always the same. It changes over time. How come? To answer that we have to examine something else.

The sun is way too bright to look at directly but when properly filtered and magnified we usually see a fairly uniformly bright surface with occasional dark locations that we know as sunspots. Sunspots are locations of higher than average magnetic activity in the Sun’s top layer, the photosphere. They are hot but not as hot as the surrounding regions, hence the darker appearance. Well, the number of sunspots is not the same every day. It changes over time. In fact, it goes through a cycle of activity which has a period of about 11 years, 22 if you count the reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field. But for numeric purposes, it’s 11 years. So every 11 years the activity of the Sun as measured by sunspot count is approximately the same. But in between those 11 years, the number is very different. If today the Sun had a maximum number of sunspots, in 5 or 6 years it would have near zero. This is related to the activity of the solar magnetic field and, therefore, the shape of the corona.

The animation above contains the image of 5 different total solar eclipse coronas; one each from 2006, 2009, 2012, 2017, and 2023. As you can see, the shape of the corona varies considerably. What shape will the April 8, 2024 corona have. My guess is not that different from 2023. Time will tell. More information about sunspot cycles is available here, Intro to Astronomy Lecture 15

The images in this animation are not mine. Four of the five were processed by Miloslav Druckmüller and one taken and processed by Fred Espenak.

In May 2022, Bonnie and I flew to Austin, Texas, got in a rental car and drove to Country Inn and Cottages, a mom and pop-type motel in Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is one of the highly desirable locations for viewing the eclipse because it’s a hotspot for tourists and it’s very near the center line of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. I was on a factfinding mission. I wanted to know what the locals knew, if anything, about the then two-year-away total solar eclipse and how the hospitality industry was preparing for it. Perhaps of greatest interest was finding a location for me to set up to view the eclipse and maybe lead a group. See my post here for my report.

After making the rounds in Fredericksburg for a few days we decided to head to Kerrville, also near the center line, and see what we could find there. Well, if you know us, we like to travel back roads, given a choice. So we left Fredericksburg traveling Farm Roads as they are known in the state. After an hour or so, my dear spouse says, “I could use a cup of coffee.” Now we were in farm country with minimal cell service (“The middle of Nowhere.”) but she looked on our map app and found a place called Cafe At The Ridge. “They might have coffee. Let’s go see.” So we did.

It was a quaint looking place, so we went in and found they have a bakery along with the cafe. With our fresh coffee and pastry in hand, we sat at a table. Bonnie was facing a wall with a TV scrolling slides. We saw that they have live music certain days and host other events. That perked my attention. We finish up and head out back because our waitress told us that it is pretty and there are chickens. There we see a beautifully landscaped area with seating, shaded spots along with open areas. Up a gentle slope we see a stage and amphitheater. This is beginning to look promising as a place to view the eclipse. Added to that, the Cafe is a mere couple hundred yards off the center line of the eclipse path. One more piece of this nicely fitting puzzle is that the Marketplace is also in the path of the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse.

The long and the short of this tale is that on Monday, April 8, 2024 I will be leading the eclipse viewing portion of an event at The Ridge Marketplace which includes Cafe At The Ridge, the Wild Flour Bakery, and the Gardens at the Ridge. I will also be there on Saturday, October 14, 2023 to view the annular eclipse, a noteworthy, if less spectacular, event.

Oh, and it also turns out that the Marketplace is not in the middle of nowhere. It is a mere four miles off of Interstate Highway 10 at exit 505.

Logistics

Now the Marketplace does not have accommodations which means that you must either have friends or family in the area, or you will have to find a room, house, Airbnb, VRBO, or similar and come to the venue. The prices being charged for rooms in and near Kerrville for the days surrounding the total eclipse are very high. I am recommending that people coming from out of the area get a room in San Antonio, which is mostly outside the path of totality, and drive the hour up to Kerrville the morning of the eclipse.

The total eclipse is roughly from NOON to 3:00 PM on April 8, 2024 with totality between 1:32 and 1:37 PM. Come early and plan to spend the day, since traffic is likely to be very heavy. The cafe will be open serving good food and I will be there! Pray for clear skies.

Stay tuned for more details.

Never look at the sun without proper eye protection. You can damage your eyes permanently. This is not to be taken lightly. Okay. So what are some options for viewing the sun. There are two primary ways to view the sun: projection and filtering.

Projection involves having a solid sheet (cardboard is often used) with a pinhole punched through it. If you hold the card up and look away from the sun, an image of the sun comes through the hole and can be projected onto another card.

Filtering involves looking directly at the sun through material that filters all but a hundred-thousandth of the suns light and all the ultra-violet and infrared rays. The standard for this is labeled ISO 12312-2:2015. Inexpensive glasses that meet this standard are available here.

Another possibility is Sunoculars – binoculars with built-in solar filters. These can only be used to look at the sun. Other than during eclipses, I use mine to look at sunspots.

During totality, it is safe to look directly at the sun. In fact, if you keep the eclipse glasses on, you will miss the main show. As soon as the second diamond ring occurs, put your glasses back on.

There is more detailed information in my book: Go See The Eclipse.

Most of us have heard that there are three keys to determining the value of a piece of real estate for sale: location, location, location. I believe that what is true for home selling is also true for solar eclipse viewing. So the question comes, where will I observe the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. After visiting and exploring the area and speaking with many people I have chosen Kerrville, Texas. That, at least is the address of the site. It is, in reality, about 8 miles from the city of Kerrville. My site is a lovely event venue called The Ridge Marketplace. Its address is 13439 S. Ranch Road 783, Kerrville, TX 78028.

My wife and I like The Ridge Marketplace for many reasons. I will mention a few. They regularly host large events, so they are accustomed to dealing with crowds. They have a cafe, restaurant, bakery, and restrooms and for big events will bring in food trucks and extra restrooms. It has a lot of outside space, including an outdoor amphitheater and stage with sound system. While some of the outside space has trees, there is plenty of open space for viewing the eclipsing sun. It is located on a slight rise above the surrounding area for a great view of the approaching shadow. Check them out here.

The one downside to this location is it has no rooms. It is only a venue. So you will have to find a room(s) elsewhere. Since room rates in the path are very high and mostly spoken for, some are staying overnight at motels in San Antonio planning to drive to their viewing location the morning of Eclipse Day.

Well, that’s half the story of why we chose this place. Now let’s talk about the eclipse and location. The Ridge Marketplace is located very near the center line of totality. How near? I have checked several online interactive maps and the answer varies from zero miles to 0.6 miles. You can’t get much closer. The predicted duration of totality there is 4m 26s. I’ll take that.

Now let’s talk about weather. Nobody knows what the weather will be like on Eclipse Day. The best we can do right now is look at the weather at various locations along the path for several years back and look at trends and averages. Jay Anderson and Jennifer West have a website, eclipsophile.com, that has a page dealing with the cloudiness along the eclipse path. Click here. Remember that on Eclipse Day we don’t get average weather. We get that day’s weather.

RECOMMENDATION:

If at all possible, be flexible with your viewing options. If you wake up Eclipse Day morning and it is cloudy at your viewing location but it is clear, say 100 miles south, consider getting in your car and driving there.

More on preparing for viewing the eclipse next post. Thank you for reading this.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 9:48 PM Universal Time (4:48 EST) is the winter solstice. This marks the start of astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern. For us in the north it marks the shortest day of the year. In Sarasota, FL the sun will be above the horizon 10 hours 25 minutes. In Chicago, IL 9 hours 7 minutes and in Seattle, WA 8 hours 25 minutes. In London, it’s all of 7 hours 49 minutes. The curious fact is that the earth is relatively close to the sun on the winter solstice: about 91.5 million miles. It doesn’t get much closer than that. Since the Earth will be 94.5 million miles away from the Sun on July 6, 2023, it’s safe to say that the biggest factor causing seasons is not distance, but rather the tilt of the earth’s axis.

My astronomy lesson for the day.

Today, November 25, 2022 marks 500 days until the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse in North America. Over 30 million people live in the path of totality and many more will visit on E-day. It is not too early to start making plans to go see/experience this amazing event. There is much more information about it in my book, “Go See The Eclipse.” Check it out.

Every day the skies give us something to see and marvel at. This week we get a special treat (just past Halloween in the USA.) Unfortunately, the people in Africa and Europe will not get to see this one. For the rest the total lunar eclipse of November 8, 2022 provides us with an opportunity to see some kind of eclipse while we wait for the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. For North America this eclipse happens in the early hours of November 8, 2022. The image gives times for the Eastern time zone. For Central time subtract and hour. Early risers will see a reddish/orange moon during the times of totality. The full moon normally is so bright that it blots out most nearby stars. The totally eclipsed moon is much darker and allows the viewer easy views of those same stars. I hope you enjoy this slow-paced event.

(This is long)

Eclipse 2024

Central Texas Trip Report

From May 17 to May 25, 2022 my wife and I explored the Texas Hill Country particularly focusing on the hospitality industry and lodging as it relates to the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. This is a report of that trip but first some general observations.

The Texas Hill Country is a tourist destination, mostly by Texans looking for some weekend entertainment indoors and out. It has grown in the past 30 years as a wine producing area. There are many vineyards and wineries. And as a result of festivals in small towns and the weekend binging, motels and RV parks have a regular up down swing in their prices. For example, the room we stayed at had a rate Sunday through Thursday of $69.00, a Friday rate of $129.00, and a Saturday rate of $149.00. Gasoline ranged from $4.19 to $4.39 per gallon during our time there.

The Hill Country is very scenic. There are many locations that offer spectacular views from the southwest (the general direction the umbra will be coming from.) It is a fairly rural area with lots of small airBnBs and regular B&Bs. The main access by airports is the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin and the San Antonio International Airport. Fredericksburg has a municipal airport that can accommodate small jets but has the décor of the 1940s and 50s. It has three separate airplane parking areas with 63 tiedowns. More information is available here: Gillespie County, Texas. Now to the housing.

In general, the motels and RV parks fell into two camps: those taking reservations and those not yet taking them. This is not a surprise. Most of these places had heard about the eclipse. Some had received calls starting shortly after the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse although most of them said just for the past 2 years or so with the rate of inquiries accelerating since the first of this year.

Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County. It has a population of just over 10,000. It has lots of restaurants and an H.E.B. grocery store. These are big in Texas. Great stores with lots of services. Check them out online.

Individual Motels and Parks (we did not check them all)

Country Inn and Cottages takes reservations four months out but for the eclipse they have a notebook with a handwritten waiting list two pages long. They have no rates set yet for the eclipse event. 830-997-2185

Comfort Inn and Suites have been getting requests since January 2022. They do not take names for a waiting list. They will have rates for the eclipse sometime in January 2023 and can book then, roughly 16 months out. 830-990-2552

Wine Country Inn has had no requests so far and had not even heard about the eclipse. They can book one year out and have 50 rooms. 830-990-1300

Best Western Plus has been getting many inquiries but has no waitlist and will take reservations 6 months out. It has 56 rooms. 830-992-2929

Peach Tree Inn has rooms and suites and is taking names for a waiting list. No prices have been set although the front desk person said they heard the owner talk about setting the rate at $1000.00 per night half due with the reservation. They currently have 43 rooms and are building on in the next year. 830-997-2117

Inn at Baron’s Creek has been fully reserved by one group. 90 rooms.

Days Inn has 30 rooms and can take reservations 6 months out. Has had inquiries but is not taking names for waitlist. 830-997-1086

Econolodge has 40 rooms and typically books out one week in advance. Working guys on jobs use this place a lot. 830-997-3437

Sunset Inn has 30 rooms and books 6 months out. The owner has just purchased the property next door.

Windcrest Inn and Suites – under new management (see previous Inn). The manager said they are working hard to update the rooms and property. 60 rooms. Timeline same as previous property.

Hangar Motel at the Fredericksburg Municipal Airport has 50 rooms and is fully booked with a waitlist of 100.

Fredericksburg Hill Country Hotel and Resort has 53 rooms. It is not taking reservations yet and not sure when they will. Call to find out. 830-715-0088

Camping and RVing

Texas has some nice state parks in the path of totality. You can make reservations only 5 months in advance for up to 14 days. It is$10 to change or cancel reservation.

The Vineyards at Fredericksburg has 124 RV sites. It is nearly fully booked at $125.00 per night, full payment, non-refundable at the time of reservation. Maybe 20 sites left as of May 24, 2022. 830-992-1237

Kerrville

We visited Kerrville and found the same pattern. Franchise motels are not taking reservations until a year in advance, possibly starting as early as January 2023. Non-franchise places either have a long waitlist or are fully booked. Calling is the best thing.

Llano

We also visited the town of Llano, population 3200, and stopped at 2 places.

Llano Best Western has 39 rooms and can take reservations 51 weeks out. 325-247-4101

Lone Star Inn has 49 rooms and takes reservation 1 year in advance. 325-247-4111

General Observations: Most motels and other accommodations are going to require a 4 night stay for the eclipse of April 8, 2024. The rates will be high but are mostly unknown. We will be staying at an RV park and have put our name on the waitlist at a couple. It will be interesting to see what happens with the October 24, 2023 annular eclipse which is also visible in the Hill Country area. As we drove the mostly back roads we saw a lot of deer, cattle, goats and sheep. Most of the land is privately owned. There is very little public or BLM land for the public to use. County roads often go through ranches but you better not stop and get off the road or you will be trespassing.

I suggest that you call the local hotels directly. Do not go through booking.com or similar.

Lodging in Fredericksburg, TX | Bed & Breakfasts, Hotels & Inns (visitfredericksburgtx.com)