AUSTIN (KXAN) – Mark your calendars for April 8, 2024! A total solar eclipse will be visible right over Central Texas in just under two years.
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse is when a portion of the sun is blocked by the moon casting a shadow on Earth. For a total solar eclipse, the moon covers the entire disk of the sun with only the sun’s corona showing around the shape of the new moon.
Eclipse times over Austin
According to TimeAndDate.com, these are the times of the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024, in Austin.
- 12:17:13 p.m.: Partial eclipse begins
- 1:36:09 p.m:. Full Eclipse Begins
- 1:37:02 p.m.: Maximum eclipse
- 1:37:55 p.m.: Full Eclipse Ends
- 2:58:08 p.m.: Partial eclipse ends
This means that Austin will experience a total solar eclipse for 1 minute and 46 seconds where it will be almost as dark as night.
Who will be able to see the total solar eclipse in Central Texas?
While we’ll all be able to see a partial solar eclipse in 2024 only some areas of Central Texas will get the TOTAL solar eclipse.
Here are the counties where you’ll see the total solar eclipse wherever you are within the county:
- Blanco
- Burnet
- Lampasas
- Llano
- Gillespie
- San Saba
- Mason
Here are the counties where you WILL NOT see the total solar eclipse at all from anywhere in the county:
- Bastrop
- Lockhart
- Lee
- Fayette
Counties where some parts of the county will see a total solar eclipse:
- Williamson
- Travis
- Hays
- Milam
This map shows you the center line of the eclipse and the boundaries of the total solar eclipse in white. Outside of those white lines you won’t see the total solar eclipse, but within those lines you will.
The western white line exists outside of Central Texas, but the eastern white line cuts through Milam, Williamson, Travis and Hays Counties.
Cities ON THE LINE include Buda, Mountain City, Onion Creek, Del Valle, Manor, Manda, Noack, Tracy, Cameron and Jones Prairie to name a few.
If you live in those communities, you may want to consider driving a little farther west to observe the total solar eclipse. The experience of totality is all or nothing, so it’s not just enough to be “close.”
Of course your ability to view the total solar eclipse will be dependent on weather and if there are any clouds in the way. Two years out is a little too far for us to forecast…yet.