The first total solar eclipse which will be visible across the entire United States has arrived, and Texas, and the country, can't wait, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
In 1979, a total eclipse was visible in the Pacific northwest, but to find a total eclipse visible across the entire country, like this one will be, you have to go back to 1918.
San Antonio will get 61% of totality, which means that about two thirds of the disc of the sun will be blocked out locally. What is called the 'Path of Totality' runs from the Central Oregon coast to South Carolina, and will pass significantly north of San Antonio.
The eclipse will begin to be visible here at 11:40 AM, and peak totality will happen at 1:09 PM. The whole thing will be over at 2:40PM
There are several eclipse events open. Probably the biggest one will be a the Scobee Planetarium on the campus of San Antonio College.
Director Rick Varner says they will have eclipse safely glasses avaialble, and expect some one thousand people to be on hand.
"All of Texas will be partial solar eclipse, nobody will have total eclipse in our state," he said."We will start activities at 11:30 and end them at 2:30."
Several other events are taking place to allow people to watch the eclipse safely. In the San Antonio ISD, which is the only major public school district where classes are underway, science teachers are holding programs allowing students safe viewing of the eclipse.
And, if you're patient, mark April 8, 2014 on your calendar. On that date, less than seven years from now, we'll have a solar eclipse which will be visible in totality in San Antonio.
And make sure you have certified eclipse glasses if you want to look at the eclipse, and you'll get a reminder of that at the Scobee Planetarium.
Varner says long time Scobee astronomer Bob Kelly sufferes from lifetime partial blindness due to looking at the 1979 eclipse while he was photographing it.