A total solar eclipse occurs on Aug. 12, and North Texans interested in chasing the sun’s shadow will have to travel a lot farther than they did in 2024, when the path of totality cut through our backyards.
Traveling to See the Eclipse
To see the sun completely blocked, you’d need to fly nearly 4,800 miles to León, Spain. That’s where crowds should get a nearly two-minute-long look at totality, according to NASA. Eclipse chasers who head to Valencia, Spain, or Reykjavík, Iceland, will see about a minute of totality.
Alternatively, you can take a road trip to parts of the U.S. or Canada to get a look at the partial eclipse. The best shot in the continental U.S. is Bangor, Maine, where it will be 24% of totality. Bangor is about 1,700 miles from DFW by air. Fairbanks, Alaska, will see 37%.
During a total solar eclipse, the Moon aligns perfectly between the Sun and the Earth. People in the path of totality will briefly plunge into darkness at the pinnacle of the eclipse. Those in the path of the partial eclipse will see the Moon cover only a small portion of the Sun.
Parts of the U.S. will see total solar eclipses in 2033 and 2044. In 2045, the path of totality will travel just north of North Texas, in Oklahoma.
If you do chase the eclipse, remember to view it safely through special eclipse-viewing glasses or by creating a pinhole viewer.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
