It was the most anticipated cloud forecast I’ve ever made—April 8, 2024—the Great American Eclipse that cut a path straight through Texas.
PREVIOUS: Special coverage of the ‘Great Texas Eclipse’ from KPRC 2
I made the trip to Fredericksburg, Texas to catch the celestial spectacle, hoping the clouds would clear during totality as I predicted.
Most of the day? Cloudy—Real cloudy. But as the moon crossed in front of the sun the sky cleared just enough to see the totality and the sun’s corona.
Here I am in the path of totality.
When is the next one?
The next Great American Solar Eclipse won’t be until August 12, 2045.
Yep, we have to wait another 20 years! But even then, the path barley touches the Texas panhandle. On that note, where would you like to see it? Also, is it too early to book rooms at Disney World? Asking for a friend. 😄
How about Houston specifically?
Total solar eclipses are rare—like, really rare. Only about 5% of the Earth gets one every 50 years. And if you’re wondering how often one shows up right where you live? It’s about every 375 years...on average!
CLICK2PINS: Your AMAZING eclipse photos shared on Click2Pins
For Houston, the next total solar eclipse won’t move through until April 14, 2200. Yes, that’s 150 years from now! And after that? Not until 2993. Talk about a long wait—yikes!
Here’s what the 2200 path will look like:
Fun fact: the last total solar eclipse to pass through Houston was way back on November 17, 1286. That’s over 700 years ago, before Houston was even a thing! The edge of totality just barely clipped what would eventually become the city.
SEE ALSO: Albert Einstein’s eclipse | Is this the best solar eclipse picture you’ve ever seen?
So, if you caught the 2024 eclipse somewhere else in Texas, consider yourself lucky... Houston’s got a long wait between shows.
Here’s a fun sidenote from my eclipse adventure in Fredericksburg: while I was there with Sky & Telescope, I got to interview NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who saw the total solar eclipse from space!
Today, Pettit is in space aboard the International Space Station. He arrived September 11, 2024. Below, you can find my interview with him, where we talked about being one of the few people to ever see a total solar eclipse from space!
Oh, and get this, he’s also the only person to invent something in space AND get it patented. Seriously cool guy. It was such a fun interview, and you can watch it here:
