Thursday, October 23, 2014 there will be a partial solar eclipse visible for much of North America including the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. A partial solar eclipse involves the Moon covering up only part of the Sun as seen from your location. As the central part of the Moon’s shadow (umbra) misses the Earth during a partial solar eclipse, there are no other locations on Earth where the Sun appears completely covered during this event.

This will be a late afternoon event for us here in DFW. In fact the sun will set during the partial eclipse. Here are some important eclipse milestones for the DFW area on October 23, 2014.

• Partial Eclipse begins (The Moon touches the Sun’s edge) at 4:49 p.m. The Sun/Moon will be 21.9° above the SW horizon.
• Maximum Eclipse (Moon is closest to the center of the Sun) at 5:53 p.m. The Sun/Moon will only be 9.8° above the horizon low in the southwest. Make sure you observe this eclipse from a location with an unobstructed view of the southwestern horizon.
• Sunset is at 6:46 p.m. while the partial eclipse wanes for DFW viewers.
• Partial Eclpise Ends (Moon retreats from face of Sun). This is not visible from DFW as the sun will have already dipped below our horizon.

It’s extremely important to view any solar eclipse using proper eye protection. Failing to do so can result in permanent eye or sight damage. Never gaze or look directly at the sun (eclipsed or not) with your naked eye. You can find information on how to safely view the eclipse on Mr. Eclipse’s web site.

If you don’t reside in the DFW area but need eclipse times for your location then go here and plug in your city and state.

Eclipse Map  – http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2014-Fig04.pdf

Local Date/Time Table for U.S. Cities –   http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHtables/OH2014-Tab05.pdf