User:Nicole Sharp/USA travel guide for the October 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse

Globe showing the Annular Solar Eclipse path for 2023-10-14.

There will be an Annular Solar Eclipse on 2023-10-14. For the Contiguous United States of America (USA), Solar annularity will be visible from Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon.

The next Annular Solar Eclipse visible from the Contiguous USA after 2023-10-14 will not be until 2046-02-05, visible from Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon. This will be a wait time of twenty-three years.

intro

To observe the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2023-10-14 in the United States of America, you want to be as far east as possible on the Path of Annularity in order to have the highest possible altitude angle at the time of eclipse maximum. However, you also need to be in a location with clear (or mostly clear) skies and no (or very little) wind. Corpus Christi (Texas) is the eastern terminus of the eclipse path in the USA but the weather in October for coastal Texas may not be favorable, which means getting further inland. ^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] The next stop west along the eclipse centerline after Corpus Christi (Texas) is Hobbs (New Mexico).

A major difference between a Total Solar Eclipse or Partial Solar Eclipse and an Annular Solar Eclipse is that in order to properly witness Solar annularity, you must be as close as possible to the eclipse centerline and not simply anywhere inside the eclipse path. Any deviation from the eclipse centerline will cause Luna to appear off-axis and thus will not form a true Solar annulus. Whereas during Solar totality, your geographic position inside the eclipse path determines the duration of totality but does not significantly affect the appearance of totality, unlike for annularity during an Annular Solar Eclipse. This makes observing an Annular Solar Eclipse much more challenging than a Total Solar Eclipse since the number of available eclipse observation sites within the eclipse path is proportional to the square of the desired distance from the eclipse centerline.

Additional considerations are that you need an unobstructed field of view in the direction of Sol (such as no buildings or trees in the way) and you will get a clearer view if there is vegetation or water in the azimuth direction of Sol (not sand, pavement, or buildings). A Solar telescope should always be set up on grass (not pavement) if possible. Ideally you want to avoid any urban areas since this can degrade seeing quality. Your parking space should also be close enough to the observation site so that you have a direct line of sight between your telescope and your vehicle.

weather

10-day weather forecasts

hourly weather forecasts

list

Locations listed here are within 2⁻¹⁶ of a Terran mean circumference (0.6108 kilometers, 0.3795 miles, 668 yards, or 2004 feet) from the eclipse centerline which should provide the best possible Solar annulus. ^[6] All locations in Texas and New Mexico are listed, plus one additional location in Utah. Locations are sorted by default from east to west in longitude, with no locations listed west of the easternmost location in Utah.

Click here to view the eclipse centerline with Google Maps.

Locations within 2⁻¹⁷ of a Terran mean circumference (0.3054 kilometers, 0.1898 miles, 334 yards, or 1002 feet) from the eclipse centerline are listed in bold (19 locations), locations within 2⁻¹⁸ of a Terran mean circumference (0.1527 kilometers, 0.09489 miles, 167 yards, or 501 feet) from the eclipse centerline are listed in bold underline (8 locations), and locations within 2⁻¹⁹ of a Terran mean circumference (0.07635 kilometers, 0.04744 miles, 83.5 yards, or 250.5 feet) from the eclipse centerline are listed in bold double underline (3 locations).

The data provided here is intended as a general guideline only and may contain errors. These locations were identified based on remote imagery from Google Maps and other than from the information that I can find available on the World Wide Web, I have no idea if they still exist or are publicly accessible. ^[7] You should have multiple locations selected in advance, scout the locations in person the day before the eclipse, and allow yourself enough time on the morning of the eclipse to change locations if necessary.

Remember that you should use GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates to find observing sites and not rely on street addresses, especially since many parks and wilderness areas may have a postal address that is far away from the actual location. Addresses given in italics should definitely not be used for directions.

Latitudes and longitudes were identified using Google Maps in combination with Occult from the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA). Elevations are from the USGS (USA Geological Survey) Elevation Point Query Service. ^[8] Eclipse start times, times of eclipse maximum, eclipse end times, eclipse magnitudes ("mag"), and at maximum eclipse (expressed as airmasses ["air"]) are from IOTA Occult. ^[9] Average cloudiness (cl.) for October 14, average windspeed for October (expressed on the Beaufort wind force [B] scale), average air temperature (te.) for October, and average air pressure (pr.) for October are from Time and Date Aksjeselskap. ^[10]

Times are given in the local timezone (T) for each location.

location	address	latitude	longitude	elevation	start	max	end	T	mag	air	cl.	B	te.	pr.
Packery Channel Oak Motte Sanctuary	14220 S. Padre Island Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78404	`27.629106993352558`	`-97.21791448668667`	1.373965740 m	10:26:51	11:58:52	13:38:55	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Packery Channel Nature Park	14218 Park Rd. 22, Corpus Christi, TX 78418	`27.626424227586060`	`-97.22124179592429`	2.296695232 m	10:26:51	11:58:52	13:38:55	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Sarnia Park	400A N. Shoreline Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	`27.792924914534540`	`-97.38837591377255`	1.483780622 m	10:26:30	11:58:21	13:38:16	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Sherrill Park	222 S. Shoreline Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	`27.791001004482155`	`-97.39255437129611`	4.194799900 m	10:26:30	11:58:20	13:38:16	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Artesian Park	813 N. Chapparral St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	`27.799406697068680`	`-97.39475811576810`	1.426463366 m	10:26:29	11:58:19	13:38:15	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Spohn Park	213 N. Mesquite St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	`27.794126148686153`	`-97.39597399238578`	3.241936207 m	10:26:30	11:58:20	13:38:15	`-5`	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Upper Broadway Park	901 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	`27.795710095997112`	`-97.40023169807303`	9.774136543 m	10:26:29	11:58:19	13:38:15	`-5`	0.975	1.3	58%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb
Washington Park	520 S. Fourth St., Hobbs, NM 88240	`32.695132402803730`	`-103.12189621057546`	1098.750366211 m	09:17:09	10:43:41	12:18:57	`-6`	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb
*King Soccerplex*	1409 S. Dal Paso St., Hobbs, NM 88240	`32.689280029909156`	`-103.12532471201577`	1098.384399414 m	09:17:09	10:43:41	12:18:57	`-6`	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb
Humble Park	820 N. Grimes St., Hobbs, NM 88240	`32.708390997363520`	`-103.14422018415978`	1108.691162109 m	09:17:07	10:43:38	12:18:53	`-6`	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb
*Jefferson Elementary School*	1200 W. Park, Hobbs, NM 88240	`32.707276046843940`	`-103.14919783054361`	1109.793945313 m	09:17:07	10:43:38	12:18:52	`-6`	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb
Bensing Park	1401 W. Clinton St., Hobbs, NM 88240	`32.707339411317975`	`-103.15193967651592`	1110.165893555 m	09:17:07	10:43:37	12:18:52	`-6`	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb
Three Gun Trailhead	~~2113 Osuna Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113~~	`35.076468878467640`	`-106.44417450199971`	1927.192138672 m	09:13:23	10:37:13	12:09:49	`-6`	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
*Embudo Trailhead*	~~2113 Osuna Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113~~	`35.099015280469736`	`-106.47977064544932`	1883.783081055 m	09:13:21	10:37:09	12:09:43	`-6`	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Menaul Trailhead	~~3615 Los Picaros Rd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87105~~	`35.104931742101790`	`-106.48832607476871`	1826.338378906 m	09:13:21	10:37:09	12:09:42	`-6`	0.974	1.7	27%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Holiday Park	11710 Comanche Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111	`35.123171939684750`	`-106.50832103164810`	1746.963500977 m	09:13:20	10:37:06	12:09:39	`-6`	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Haynes Park	2006 Grande Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.222059979304080`	`-106.66316591794453`	1595.085327148 m	09:13:11	10:36:51	12:09:16	`-6`	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Chianti Park	1210 Chianti Rd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.232948599933830`	`-106.68123588833546`	1617.083740234 m	09:13:10	10:36:49	12:09:13	`-6`	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Cabezon Park	2305 Cabezon Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.231706034043285`	`-106.68944544040455`	1617.995361328 m	09:13:10	10:36:48	12:09:12	`-6`	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Western Winds Park	2260 Zaragoza Rd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.245321265835486`	`-106.69098172286776`	1650.114257813 m	09:13:09	10:36:48	12:09:11	`-6`	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Star Heights Park	800 Polaris Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.246861788085420`	`-106.70309738645146`	1669.708618164 m	09:13:09	10:36:47	12:09:10	`-6`	0.974	1.7	25%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
*Sugar Park*	500 Sugar Rd. NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	`35.252347780215445`	`-106.70916693777448`	1698.502319336 m	09:13:08	10:36:46	12:09:09	`-6`	0.974	1.7	25%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb
Chaco Culture National Historical Park	~~11577 USA Hwy. 550, Nageezi, NM 87037~~	`36.030512129387496`	`-107.90517899441724`	1889.114013672 m	09:12:03	10:34:46	12:06:13	`-6`	0.973	1.7	25%	1.8	12°C	1018 mb
Chaco Observatory	~~11577 USA Hwy. 550, Nageezi, NM 87037~~	`36.030829365470126`	`-107.90993560556717`	1889.400634766 m	09:12:03	10:34:46	12:06:12	`-6`	0.973	1.7	25%	1.8	12°C	1018 mb
*Oak Creek Campground*	~~167 W. 100 S., Richfield, UT 84701~~	`38.089781474967140`	`-111.34180986801425`	2703.356201172 m	09:09:28	10:29:46	11:58:36	`-6`	0.973	2.0	32%	1.8	11°C	1017 mb

Note that there are very confusingly two different campgrounds at Fishlake National Forest both named "Oak Creek Campground". Always use the GPS coordinates and don't get these mixed up.