North Texans look to the sky for solar eclipse
DALLAS - Millions of people all across the United States watched the total eclipse of the sun Monday. It was a big hit locally, too, despite the fact that Texas only got a partial view.
The moon blocked out about 75 percent of the sun around 1:10 p.m. in Dallas.
Because there was only 75 percent coverage locally it was hard to notice much of a difference without approved eyewear, a solar filter or some sort of pinhole viewer. There was too much sunlight to see anything at glance.
However, hundreds of FOX 4 viewers submitted photos of themselves with solar glasses or shadows of the eclipse under a tree.
Many watched from viewing parties at museums and parks like the Perot Museum or the Dallas Arboretum.
The Arboretum handed out all 3,000 pairs of eclipse glasses to its guests. People waited hours in line to snap a free pair of sunglasses. Some people ended up sharing because the crowd was so large.
The Crook family brought their new, high-powered telescope of the arboretum to admire the solar eclipse.
"It's great for viewing the sun if you've got the proper filter on it," said Trey Crook. "We've got a solar filter on it."
Antoninette Ray and Joy Hutchens from Arlington said it was truly mesmerizing to watch with solar glasses.
“It’s just so beautiful. When you really study it and really focus on it, you can actually see the outline of the moon and then around there you see the rays of the sunlight," Hutchens said. "It’s a wonderful experience to have in my lifetime. I wish my grandson and my granddaughter were here to watch.”
Another popular gathering place for the eclipse was at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.
"It looks like the moon is biting the Sun," said 6-year-old Liana Encinas. "Like a cookie."
Will Horton just got back from scape camp.
"I see a really cool sun," he recalled. "Some of it is blurred out by the moon."
TOTAL ECLIPSE
Americans across the land watched in wonder through telescopes, cameras and protective glasses Monday as the moon blot out the sun and turned daylight into twilight.
Totality - when the sun is completely obscured by the moon – lasted just a minute or two in each location along the narrow corridor stretching all the way across the U.S. heartland to Charleston, South Carolina.
Two-hundred million people live within a day's drive of Monday's path of totality. So towns and parks along the eclipse's main drag welcomed monumental crowds for what promised to be the most observed, studied and photographed eclipse in history.