The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is warning travelers to pack their patience and prepare for potential delays and airport snags if they’re flying during the total solar eclipse next month.
11.03.2024 - 17:45 / forbes.com
A total solar eclipse is not just for science geeks. Memories of April 8’s brief moments of totality—reserved only for those inside the 115-mile-wide path across North America—will live forever in the mind of anyone who experiences it, whatever the level of their scientific knowledge.
However, all solar eclipses come with something extra for stargazers and amateur astronomers. As well as the spectacle of the sun’s corona during a brief darkness in the day, a solar eclipse, by definition, sees the moon very close to the sun in the days and nights surrounding it.
This new moon phase, when the moon is roughly (and, indeed, precisely) between the Earth and the sun, means dark nights free from moonlight.
The week before a solar eclipse—from the third quarter on April 1 to the new moon phase occurring at the moment of the eclipse on April 8, will see the moon absent from the night sky.
That makes a total solar eclipse an ideal time to get into a rural area and go stargazing—and there are plenty of such events planned, from Texas through Arkansas in particular. Some include accommodation, while others are camping-only events.
Here are four star parties inside the path of totality:
Where: Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center, Aquilla, Texas
Time and duration of totality: 13:38 CDT, 4 minutes and 24 seconds
More information and tickets (from $664)
Expect sky tours with telescopes at this star party close to Waco and talks, including eclipse expert Dan McGlaun at Eclipse2024.org, a movie marathon, and all food. There will be a strict no-lights policy after 21:00 each night.
Where: The Lodge at Country Inn Cottages, Fredericksburg, Texas
Time and duration of totality: 13:33 CDT, 4 minutes 23 seconds
More information and tickets ($325)
A two-day camping festival and star party on a 200-acre private ranch in Fredericksburg with talks from Bill Nye, The Science Guy, CEO of the Planetary Society, exhibitor and activity booths, a star party and food.
Where: near Mountain View, Arkansas
Time and duration of totality: 13:52 CDT, 4 minutes 11 seconds
More information and tickets ($550-$1,000)
This ranch in north Arkansas has an amateur observatory and will host tent camping, RVs and overlanders together with food trucks and live music. Described as a “sky-gazer’s paradise,” the ranch offers hiking, dark skies and family-friendly events.
Where: Luminous Heart Ranchette, Tarpley, Texas
Time and duration of totality: 13:31 CDT, 4 minutes 20 seconds
More information and tickets ($277)
Aimed at astronomy enthusiasts, nature lovers, and thrill-seekers, this scenic camping event at Luminous Heart Ranchette near Tarpley, Texas, consists of three nights of camping. April 6 is International Firewalking Day,
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is warning travelers to pack their patience and prepare for potential delays and airport snags if they’re flying during the total solar eclipse next month.
April 8 is shaping up to be a busy day for US airlines, as travelers chase the total solar eclipse sweeping across the nation from Texas to Maine—a rare event that won’t be visible from the contiguous US again until 2044.
Spring has officially sprung and the arrival of longer days and warmer temperatures means more opportunities to get out and see the world.
With accommodation inside the 115-mile-long path of totality surging in price and cloud scientists suggesting that Texas has the highest chance of a clear view for April 8’s total solar eclipse, planning an eclipse trip is getting tricky. The answer has been there since the start—go to an eclipse festival. If you’re OK with staying in an RV or camping, then it’s a no-brainer.
The solar eclipse on April 8, will be a celestial event. It will be visible from 15 states across the U.S., parts of Mexico and Canada.
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A million Americans remember where they were on August 21, 2017. For most of the enlightened who made a trip into the path of totality that day—the first to go coast to coast in the U.S. For 99 years—it was their first glimpse of totality, the eclipsed sun’s glistening corona on display for a couple of minutes of darkness during the middle of the day.
Next month’s total solar eclipse, which will pass directly over a wide swath of North America, is drawing an awful lot of interest from folks who are willing to travel to see it in all its glory. In order to do so, they need to place themselves somewhere along its path of totality—geographic locations from which the sun will appear to be entirely obstructed by the moon’s shadow passing between the Earth and its nearest star.
Semi-private jet company JSX is offering a luxurious way to see the total solar eclipse next month with a sweepstakes that will give 12 lucky space fans the chance to see the phenomenon from the air for free.
The total solar eclipse on April 8 is the event of spring, but with the chances of a clear sky about 50/50 it pays to make a plan to do something that goes on for longer than the few hours of celestial splendor.
“All hotels for the eclipse sold out months ago—you’re too late.” It’s a common refrain from people who booked their rooms months ago and want to feel good about that, but it’s inaccurate.
For a newly minted Texan such as myself, viewing the solar eclipse in San Antonio last October was spectacular. We took a short drive to the award-winning Confluence Park, a bucolic ecosystem that features a rainwater catchment along the San Antonio River, a green roof for passive heating/cooling and a constellation of walking paths that connect to the San Antonio Missions UNESCO World Heritage Site.