Total Eclipse of 2024
Ever since the total eclipse of 2017, I have been planning for the next one in the United States on April 8, 2024. Plans were made over a year ago for a place to stay. You may recall my Feb 29, 2024 newsletter in which I ranted about Airbnb reservations being cancelled on me TWICE. However, everything turned out well despite that.
On April 5, I flew with Mrs. Wizard to Dallas. I believe Dallas is the largest city in the US I had never been to, so I was eager to cross it off my list. By the way, the only two cities that have MLB teams I have never truly been to (driving through and making connections don’t count) are now Pittsburgh and Tampa. That evening, we took the light rail from our Love Field hotel to downtown and enjoyed a delicious and friendly dinner at the Yo Ranch Steakhouse, which I highly recommend.
The next day, April 6, we dinked around downtown Dallas, including walking the entire Katy Trail, visiting an eclipse festival, and Dealy Plaza. The next day, I visited the George W Bush Museum. This brings my count of presidential museums to eight. I also did two airport pick- ups, at both Dallas airports, and traveled to Waco for the big day. I plan to write more about my Dallas in an upcoming newsletter.
My backup plan after being thrown out in the streets twice by selfish Airbnb hosts was the Super 8 by Baylor University. I booked four rooms there over a year ago, planning to let friends use them. When the second Airbnb host cancelled on me, one of my eclipse friends kindly gave me back the fourth room.
Once we were inside of the 10-day weather window, things did not look good. High chances of thunderstorms were forecast for April 8 and that never changed. Early that morning the sky was completely grey. You couldn’t even tell where the sun was. However, as 12:20 PM approached, the starting time of the eclipse, things started to look hopeful. The sky was still mostly cloudy, but about 30% of the time the sun peeked through.
The location we planned to view the event was Baylor University, which was a short walk from the Super 8. There was a big eclipse viewing event going on the football stadium, which I didn’t have tickets for. Coincidentally, April 8 is also Dia del Oso (day of the bear) at Baylor and they had a free festival going on to celebrate both that and the eclipse. Although it was meant for Baylor students, everyone I spoke with was very friendly and welcoming.
The time totality would start was 1:38 PM. About five minutes before, the music stopped playing and hundreds of people at the festival quietly turned their full attention to the sky. Given that Baylor is a Baptist college, I imagine that many prayers were being made for a break in the clouds. A few minutes before totality, it seemed the sun was going behind a large and think cloud. However, the cloud seemed to take a turn and there was a window among the clouds where a thin crescent of the sun could be seen.
The hold in the clouds held, fortunately. When the last of the sun disappeared behind the moon the crowd fell silent as everyone took in the amazing event. It is this point that words and pictures can’t do the experience justice. It is so much more than the sky just getting dark. In my opinion, it is a spiritual experience. For a few minutes, everyone is taking in the same incredible show in the sky. There are no divisions. To quote Led Zeppelin, it is a time when “all are one, and one is all.”
After four minutes and 20 seconds of totality, the sun crept back over the other side of the moon. The crowd burst into applause. I was proud to be there. I do think eclipses are best experienced with others. Maybe it is just a contact high, but I think not. You simply have to experience one yourself, preferably in a large group, which you should!
After the big event, my group of seven already started discussing plans for future total eclipses. The next one in the US will be on Aug 22, 2044. However, that one will take place just before sunset, when it won’t be as impressive, I think. I think the better one to put on your calendar is that of Aug 12, 2045. The following image shows the path of that one, which will go right over northern Nevada.
Planning outside the US, there will be a good opportunity on Aug 2, 2027. It looks like a good spot for that one will be Egypt, in particular Luxor.
I’d like to say one final thing. To appreciate a total eclipse, you have to be in the totality path and preferably close to the middle of it. If you are slightly outside the path, where the moon covers 99% of the sun, it isn’t 99% as good as totally covered. No, it’s about 1% as good. The 1% of sun that creeps behind the moon will still provide about 10,000x the brightness of a full moon.
In closing, I would like to thank Baylor University for an outstanding venue to watch the eclipse. As always, I found Texans to be very friendly, but this was especially the case at Baylor that day.