2024 total eclipse as seen from southeast Oklahoma/Photo by Noah Dawson
Those in the Texas Panhandle who didn’t have a chance to travel see the total solar eclipse on April 8th will have another opportunity closer to home on August 12th, 2045.
The path of the 2045 eclipse will begin in the Pacific Ocean, before crossing into California. The path of totality will include portions of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The path of totality will then make its way through the Caribbean and parts of South America.
Only a small part of Texas will be in the path of totality, but that portion will be in the far Northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle. Portions of Hansford, Ochiltree, and Lipscomb Counties are all in the path of totality. Towns in the Panhandle in the path include Perryton, Booker, Darrouzett, Follett, Higgins, and Lipscomb.
The duration of totality will vary significantly across the path. Those on the edge of the path will receive at most a few seconds of totality, while those in the furthest northeast corner of the Panhandle will see over 4 minutes of totality. Those at the center of the path, in Kansas and Oklahoma, will see over 5 minutes of totality.
The rest of the Panhandle is expected to see the sun at least 90% covered by the Moon, with Amarillo expected to see about 95% coverage. Though these areas will see significant dimming of the sun, it will still not be safe to look directly at the sun outside of totality.
The last time a total solar eclipse could be seen from the Texas Panhandle was in 1878. More recently, portions of the Panhandle were in the path of annular eclipses in 2012 and 1994. However, due to the alignment of the orbits during those eclipses, those eclipses did not produce totality, as the Moon appeared slightly smaller in the sky than the Sun.
The next total eclipse with the path of totality reaching the Panhandle will be in 2169. The path of totality for that eclipse will end just east of Amarillo, though Amarillo won’t be directly in the path. Amarillo itself isn’t expected to be in the direct path of a total solar eclipse until 2317, with Amarillo near the center of the path.