If you are going to be observing the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse (TSE) from Texas please review the image below. On eclipse day you will need to be somewhere in that shaded area, and preferably closer to the blue or “centerline” during the eclipse. It doesn’t matter whether you are in extreme south Texas or all the way up on the Red River in northeast Texas, as long as you are between the lines and again, close to the blue centerline you’ll enjoy up to 4 minutes and 20 + seconds of totality (weather permitting). That means the Moon completely covering the Sun and providing amazing views of the sun’s corona and other astonishing solar eclipse phenomena.
Path of Totality for Texas on April 8, 2024.
If you have never witnessed a TSE here is your big chance but remember to experience the totally eclipsed Sun you must be in between the shaded lines on the map above or somewhere along this path whether it be down in Mexico or farther up into the eastern U.S. or Canada. There is no almost about this! Totality only occurs between the marked lines seen on the map. But be warned, the closer you are to one of the red lines (border of totality) but still within the “path of totality” the SHORTER your totality time. This is why it’s important to try and get as close as you can to the centerline for maximum totality. The reason for the reduction in totality duration as you move away from the centerline is directly related to the fact that the Moon is round. The moon is round and so is its shadow as it falls on the Earth.
TSE 8-21-2017 – Outer Corona.
So make your arrangements to get yourself in the path of totality on eclipse day otherwise you are just going to see a partial solar eclipse. The difference between seeing a partial solar eclipse and a total solar eclipse is like hitting the traveling carnival in your local shopping center parking lot or going to Disney World in Florida. Maybe I’m dating myself a little? Do they still even have traveling carnivals? Anyway, there is no comparison. You do not get to see totality with a partial solar eclipse, and that is where the magic happens.
Important! The partial phases of the TSE leading up to and immediately after totality must be viewed with approved solar filters!Do not look at the Sun with your naked eyes. Doing so will cause irreversible damage to your eyes and can even result in total blindness. The only time you can use your naked eyes to view the eclipse is during that short period of totality – if you are in the path of totality!
Many of the hotels and events that are happening for this eclipse have already booked up. Especially the hotels, and some years in advance. But if you live here in Texas, you can simply drive to your selected spot early on eclipse day. That’s assuming you have reservations and/or permission to be on a friends property at a state park, etc., and taking traffic into account. By the way, this is the last TSE to grace the contiguous United States for 20 years, and that next TSE on August 23, 2044 will only be visible at sunset in 3 states – Montana and the Dakotas. Here’s wishing us all favorable weather on eclipse day 4/8/24.
TSE 08212017 – The moment after totality
Eclipse Viewing Considerations
LOCATION – Have you picked out your spot to view the eclipse? This could be anything from your home if you live in the path of totality to a special eclipse event that many towns and cities in the path are hosting (some free some requiring purchased tickets) or maybe a camping spot. Wherever you are going to be lock in your reservation now if you haven’t already. Don’t wait.
GEAR/EQUIPMENT – Do you have everything you need for the event? Now is the time to gather it together and ensure it all works. Make your list now and confirm you have what you need. Don’t wait until the weekend before the eclipse. It’s also a good idea to practice with your equipment (especially cameras, lenses, telescopes, etc.) now before eclipse day.
WEATHER – So you have a place to view the eclipse from but do you have a backup plan in the event that, dare I say it, you are clouded out? Plot out now where you are willing to go and how far away from home along the path of totality you are willing to travel to get to clear skies. Monitor the weather closely beginning 10 or more days from eclipse day and plan accordingly. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has a page dedicated to eclipse weather that you’ll want to monitor. In 2017 I was dead set on Hiawatha, Kansas then the forecast changed and I ended up in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
TOTALITY – The eclipse lasts almost 3 hours. Depending on where you are along the path of totality determines how long totality will last for you. Remember, totality is the halfway point during the eclipse. If you are attending an eclipse event please resist the urge to jump in your car the moment totality is finished and leave with all the rest of the yahoos. In 2017 as soon as totality ended hundreds of people left my viewing location in Kentucky, and the eclipse was only half over. Avoid the traffic jam. Relax. It’s not a race. Play it cool. Stay put. Enjoy the second half of the partial phase of the eclipse. Not only can you say you saw the entire eclipse but you won’t get stuck in traffic lasting, in some cases, hours.
PHOTOGRAPHY –
Shooting the eclipse 10-14-2023.
Resist the urge that many people feel as the eclipse draws closer to turn themselves into professional eclipse photographers. If you’ve never seen a total solar eclipse here’s some advise. Don’t get hip deep in photographing the event. Use your phone’s camera and enjoy the celestial event with your own eyes! Many people miss so much of totality (remember we are talking about less than 5 minutes in the case of this eclipse – totality will go by in a flash!) because they are looking through a camera or fumbling with camera settings and don’t just STOP and take it all in. This is especially true if this is your first total solar eclipse.
SUNSCREEN – It’s a solar eclipse. You are going to be looking up at the sun quite a bit. You have your certified solar shades to protect your eyes but don’t forget your sunscreen. I blew this one off in 2017 and ended up with a lobster face. Oops.
ALONE OR A CROWD? –
TSE2017 – Watching the eclipse via the solar funnel and 5″ Meade Newtonian
I’ve viewed eclipses with hundreds of people and all by myself. Both have advantages and drawbacks. If you have the option to view with a SMALL group I’d recommend that over the monstrous crowd. While planning a family reunion on eclipse day is doable – I’d recommend scheduling that for another time and focusing on the eclipse. This is especially true if you wanting to photograph the event.
TAKE THE DAY OFF – This should go without saying but now is the time to ask to be off from work on eclipse day. It’s hard to get into an eclipse mindset when you are working. Running outside of a building just before totality occurs is better than not seeing it at all but it’s just not the best way to experience a TSE.
STUDY UP – Now is a great time to read up on all things total solar eclipse! Learn the terminology and what to look for as totality approaches and during totality. There are plenty of solar eclipse phenomenon to look for during a total solar eclipse (crescent shadows, shadow bands, Baily’s Beads, the diamond ring, animal reactions to the darkening sky, etc.). Did you know that observations made during the solar eclipse on May 29, 1919 showed that light bending occurs as Einstein predicted in his Theory of General Relativity?
PARTY! – Don’t forget to enjoy the eclipse and marvel in the amazing celestial spectacle that is a totally eclipsed Sun. This will be my third TSE. 1) February 26, 1998 off the coast of Aruba, 2) August 21, 2017 from Hopkinsville, Kentucky and God willing, my home state of Texas on April 8, 2024. Sure make a party out of it for the whole family. This is the event of a lifetime after all.
Check out this great YT video from Smarter Everyday. It runs down all the amazing and unusual things that happen during a TSE so you’ll know what to look for and expect. Additionally, this video talks about a great app for your phone the “Solar Eclipse Timer” app that will announce eclipse milestones and observing tips during the eclipse so you want miss a thing. The app is $1.99 and totally worth every penny.
I hope you have made your plans get to the path of totality whether that’s in Texas, Maine or someplace in between. If this is your first TSE – congratulations and prepare to be amazed! If this is old hat to you well, you know the drill, enjoy! I hope you will share your pictures and eclipse experiences on my FB group. While you are there join the group! I’d love to see your images and hear about what impressed you most about this total solar eclipse, and I know my group members would like to hear about it as well. Here’s to one more time in the shadow of the Moon!
Looking to explore the night sky but don’t want to break the bank on expensive astronomy software? Look no further! In this post, I’ll explore some, but not all, of the top open source and freeware software options for amateur astronomers. Discover all the features and tools you need to take your imaging to the next level without spending a dime.
There are plenty of fantastic and expensive software applications that provide “free trials” of 30-90 days before they entice you to pay for a license to continue to use them. And that’s fine. If you don’t pay they’ll just make using them difficult by shutting off critical functionality or locking you out altogether until you do pay. I get it. You got to pay to play! But these software titles below are all free to download and use with no restrictions, but please understand that most of these will also have an option to “donate or contribute” money to those hard working folks that have spent hours of their time to bring these “free” applications to you.
So if you find yourself repeatedly using one or several of these applications I highly encourage you to do as I have done – show them some love, hit the donate button and contribute to their cause.
On October 14, 2023 an annular solar eclipse was visible in the U.S. Much of the United States witnessed a partial solar eclipse as a result but those in the western portion of the country were better situated for a deeper and longer solar eclipse. Those along the narrow path of annularity were treated to an amazing “ring of fire.”
Unlike a total solar eclipse, annular solar eclipses occur when the Moon is slightly farther away from the Earth in its orbit.
Total Annular Solar Eclipse 10-14-2023
This results in the Moon covering up the Sun but since it’s father away a thin ring of the Sun is still visible around the Moon. Thus solar filters must be used during the entire progression of an annular eclipse even when viewing in the path of annularity as the surface of the Sun is still visible round the outer edge of the Moon.
On a recent vacation trip to Rome I was lucky enough to also visit the Vatican. Our group toured the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Papal Crypts and St. Peter’s Square. It was an amazing experience to be sure but one tower seen from the Pigna (Pinecone) Courtyard caught my eye. I had read about the “Tower of the Winds” and it’s historical importance in astronomy prior to our trip.
The Tower of the Winds or the Gregorian Tower was constructed in 1580 and is located in the Vatican.
The Tower of the Winds, also known as the Gregorian Tower, is a prominent structure in the Vatican Gardens in Rome. The tower was designed by the famous Jesuit German mathematician and astronomer Father Christopher Clavius and built in the late 16th century. Its primary purpose was to serve as an astronomical observatory for the Vatican, as well as a platform for viewing Rome.
The Tower of the Winds was equipped with several astronomical instruments, including a meridian line, a solar quadrant, and a celestial globe. These instruments allowed astronomers to accurately measure the position of celestial bodies and to determine the time of day with great precision.
I had been looking forward to visiting this site for years and as it turned out I had my chance in the spring of 2022. It was a bucket list item for me, and it did not disappoint.
Our driver took us to Woodhenge which is about 2 miles from Stonehenge. We stopped but it was raining so hard that we couldn’t even get out of the van. So on to Stonehenge we went, and while the sky still had a “spring shower at any moment” look to it, the rain ended and we were able to thoroughly investigate the visitor center, its surroundings and the ancient stone monument itself.
Back in May of this year we enjoyed beautiful weather while visiting the “Emerald Isle.” A couple of hours drive generally west of Dublin, Ireland is the town of Birr, and Birr Castle Demesne.
The Leviathan of Parsonstown.
We took a guided tour inside the castle itself which is only offered during certain months of the year. The castle is not just an unoccupied museum piece but is the home of Brendan Parsons the 7th Earl of Rosse and his wife. The Parsons family have lived at Birr Castle since 1620. They celebrated their 400th anniversary last year.
We were able to walk and explore the extensive surrounding grounds or demesne (domain) which included award winning gardens, historic science center, I-LOFAR radio telescope, lake, river, waterfall, huge treehouse playground and the main attraction I was there to see, the The Great Telescope.
Two trips to central Florida and the Kennedy Space Center in late August and early September with launch tickets in hand have unfortunately resulted in two scrubbed launch attempts of NASA’s first spaceflight of the Artemis Program.
Known as Artemis I, technically a flight test of the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that NASA will use to get back to the Moon. This mission, if all goes as planned, should last 25.5 days and will take the unmanned Orion spacecraft to the Moon for a series of orbits and then back to Earth. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.
Artemis I on Launch Pad 39B on Sept. 3, 2022.
Artemis I on Launch Pad 39B on Sept. 3, 2022. This image was taken from the Apollo Saturn V Center using a 400mm lens. Artemis is about 3.5 miles away. The rocket was eventually moved back to the VAB to ride out Hurricane Ian.
Artemis I on Launch Pad 39B on Sept. 3, 2022. This image was taken from the Apollo Saturn V Center.
The VAB's giant doors seen from across the Indian River in Tutusville.
The VAB's giant louvered doors seen from across the Indian River at Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, FL.
Artemis I Across the Indian River
Artemis I as seen on Launch Complex 39B across the Indian River at Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, FL.
Artemis I and Boat
A boat passes between Artemis I and the camera as viewed from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, FL.
So why were the launch attempts scrubbed? An issue with one of the RS-25 engines not reaching adequate temperature halted one. The RS-25 rocket engines are the same powerplants once used by the Space Shuttle. They are the three big engines found on the back of the orbiter. There are four that are used on the SLS. Leaks during the fueling process caused the other attempts to be scrubbed. Then Hurricane Ian popped up on the radar and it was decided to call in the massive crawler to move the rocket stack back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to ride out the storm. As of this writing that is where Artemis I sits today.
However, things are starting to spin back up after Ian demolished much of the west coast of Florida and NASA announced today that the next attempt to launch Artemis I will come very early on Monday, Nov. 14 during a 69 minute launch window which opens at 12:07 a.m. EST. NASA has said that they plan to transport the rocket back to Launch Complex 39B as early as Friday, Nov. 4.
After having used a DSLR for astrophotography for as long as I can remember I decided to step things up a notch and get a dedicated astrophotography camera. The benefits over the DSLR seemed well worth the trouble of making the change. The ability to cool the sensor and reduce noise while taking long exposures and the increased megapixel count from my Nikon D5100 were just a couple of reasons.
QHY183C
So I weighed the options between choosing a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera. There are pro’s and con’s associated with both devices. I won’t run down that rabbit hole in this article but I will point out that the CMOS devices have come a long way in the past decade where CCD’s typically dominated. I think it’s a fair statement to say that CCD’s were the standard high-end digital imaging device not too long ago, and at the same time they were very expensive and thus not within easy reach of most backyard imagers. CCD’s are still in use and provide amazing images but the cooled CMOS cameras with their relatively lower price have become the new standard used by amateur astronomers. Following that lead as well as my budget pointed me to a CMOS camera.
Bright meteor captured with a GoPro during a nightlapse in August 2021 at Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Tau Herculids meteor shower produced by its parent comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, or SW3 peaks this Monday night for those in the DFW area. Discovered in 1930 SW3 orbits the sun every 5.4 years. It’s not a bright comet but it’s an interesting one at the moment given it’s potential for a meteor storm Monday.
In 1995, astronomers watched as this comet began to fracture and litter its orbit with a cocktail of rock, dust and ice debris. It’s fragments from this 1995 event as well as debris streams from 1897 and 1892 that COULD produce a meteor storm late Monday evening May 30, 2022. This is by no means a done deal. Several pieces of data point toward a possible meteor outburst and hope is high but we cannot be sure whether or not this will actually happen. If it does happen you’re going to want to see this for sure.
I realized recently that I’ve been a Meade LXD55 Schmidt-Newtonian telescope owner for just shy of two decades now. Wow! “That’s hard to believe,” I thought. It got me to thinking about the telescope, and it dawned on me to write about the LXD55 scope & mount.
Meade’s LXD55 line of scopes, and maybe more importantly, the GOTO German equatorial mount (GEM) was all the talk back in late 2001 and 2002 when the company began advertising it in the usual magazines. However, Meade had an issue getting the units to market and in the hands of eager amateurs chomping at the bit to have a GOTO mount that wasn’t going to break the bank.
I’m not entirely sure why the promised release date was pushed back. Maybe it was manufacturing delays or there was something else afoot but only a smattering of scopes and mounts were initially released. What I painfully knew at that time was my order had not been filled and the delivery date kept getting pushed back. If I recall correctly, (this was 20 years ago) I think I ended up waiting an additional 6 agonizing months before my shiny new telescope finally shipped. Receiving the scope was another tragic story entirely which you can read about here.
Current amateur astronomy information such as points of interest and events in the night sky, star party dates, educational information, telescopes buying tips and much more.
Important! The partial phases of the TSE leading up to and immediately after totality must be viewed with approved solar filters! Do not look at the Sun with your naked eyes. Doing so will cause irreversible damage to your eyes and can even result in total blindness. The only time you can use your naked eyes to view the eclipse is during that short period of totality – if you are in the path of totality!
I had been looking forward to visiting this site for years and as it turned out I had my chance in the spring of 2022. It was a bucket list item for me, and it did not disappoint.
