The Press at Junction | A little bit of eclipse in Texas

(Junction, Texas) Clouds attempted to overshadow the eclipse in Junction, Texas. Fortunately, they were only partially successful.

A large number of eclipse chasers chose to travel to Texas to observe the event because historical data predicted good sunny weather. However, in the last few days, the weather forecast has tended to suggest a uniformly overcast sky and possibly significant precipitation.

Eclipse chasers therefore spent the last hours before the event studying the most recent forecasts. At the very last minute, many opted for Junction, a small town of just over 4,000 inhabitants, because the forecast there was a little less dire, with cloud cover of “only” 57%.

The small town has become welcoming. In a small park in the heart of the city, we have set up an information kiosk with free bottles of water and glasses. We have also planned a small country music ensemble, a pocket game and kiosks to sell salsa and jams made by local farmers. At 9:30 a.m., a good four hours before the start of the total eclipse, there is already a little festive air.

Serious enthusiasts, however, chose to settle in the municipal park on the banks of the Llano River, a quiet place, with a few trees (not too many, so as not to obscure the view) and two large, somewhat noisy swift nest boxes.

“It will be interesting to see what they do during the eclipse,” says Vladimir Voder, who traveled the long way from Boston with the local astronomy club to watch the event. He says he witnessed an eclipse in his home country, the former Yugoslavia, in 1962, and watched the chickens go to bed once darkness set in.

The Atlanta Astronomy Club is also on site, with telescopes of all types and sizes. Several people have attached filters to their binoculars with the means at hand. The instruments look a bit like kindergarten crafts, but they work.

Race with the clouds

The weather is rather nice and warm, but everyone knows that the clouds are not far away. In fact, these are head and shoulders above the other sites they had considered.

The Moon begins to eat away at the edge of the Sun around 12:14 p.m. Everyone rushes to their special glasses. But an eclipse is a long process. The Moon only progresses slowly, very slowly. And the clouds are moving faster.

A two-hour drive southwest of Junction, Martin Tapay, a former airplane pilot, travels by car following the blue skies in an effort to find a site with a clear view.

“As a career pilot, I had never seen how quickly the clouds raced with us to erase all the blue,” he laments.

At Junction, clouds are starting to move in as the period of totality should soon begin. The eclipse chasers protest, trying to blow away the clouds or wave their hands away. Without any success, obviously.

It is a struggle between the thin crescent Sun and the clouds. Observers rejoice when the Sun is seen through a hole in the clouds, and are indignant when it disappears. Unfortunately, a large cloud arrives just as the period of totality is due to begin.

With totality comes dusk. We see it progressing from the west, passing over the bridge which spans the Llano River, settling down.

The swifts no longer move from the perch and seriously turn down the volume. We only hear a half-hearted song here and there.

Three minutes that pass too quickly

And then, happily, observers see the Sun peeking through a hole in the clouds, completely obscured by the Moon: we only see the crown of fire around a large black circle. The photographers are busy, tense, while those who are just watching the show are enthusiastic.

We hear the same cries of joy on the other side of the river, in a campsite where other observers have settled.

The three minutes of totality pass too quickly, a strange dawn takes the place of dusk. And then, a little clearing, the Sun returns, a crescent which slowly begins to grow again.

The eclipse chasers look at the photos they have captured. Given the forecasts over the past few days, having just one good photo makes them happy. Many didn’t expect much.

Most take things philosophically. Vladimir Voder and Ben Myers are preparing to make the long journey back to Boston, a week-long affair. They say they visited several sites on the way there, such as the Skyline Trail in Virginia, Nashville, the NASA Space Center in Houston, and so on.

“We are starting to prepare for the next eclipse, in Spain,” says Ben Myers.