 Show Did you know that San Juan County, Utah will be in the direct path of the Annular Solar Eclipse on Saturday, October 14, 2023? Although it’s still a year away, we’ve been hearing from our local lodging property owners that visitors have been booking rooms for the weekend of the eclipse for over a year already! Currently, as of the beginning of November 2022, local lodging properties are reporting between 50%- 100% occupancy for the weekend of the eclipse, so if you’re just hearing about the eclipse now and you think you want to come experience it from Southeastern Utah, don’t wait- book your room as soon as possible! LINK TO LODGING & CAMPING IN SOUTHEASTERN SOUTHEASTERN UTAH What’s the difference between an Annular Solar Eclipse and a Total Solar Eclipse? As we’ve been telling people about the eclipse for the past several months, we’re often asked how an Annular Solar Eclipse differs from a Total Solar Eclipse. A Total Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and completely blocks out the sun. An Annular Solar Eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and blocks out all but an outer ring of the Sun, leaving the Sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around the Moon. Where is the best place to watch the eclipse from? Depending on where you watch the eclipse from, the duration of maximum eclipse can differ significantly. Here are the towns/locations in San Juan County that are in the path of annularity, and the duration of maximum eclipse at each location:
If you look at the map of the eclipse path above, you can see that in nearby towns, such as Moab, the full eclipse will not be visible. Be sure to do your research before booking your lodging. We are expecting large crowds and it will be much easier to fully experience the eclipse if you stay in a nearby town, rather than trying to drive to an area in the direct path the morning of the eclipse. Since the town of Mexican Hat is in the most direct path of annularity in San Juan County and will have the longest maximum eclipse time, Utah’s Canyon Country and Edge of the Cedars/Goosenecks State Park are working together to plan an eclipse event at Goosenecks State Park. Please be sure to continue to check back on the 2023 Annular Eclipse page on our website for updates! For more information or to request travel brochures, please call Utah’s Canyon Country at: 800-574-4386 Or e-mail us at: This entry was posted in Events, Fall, Mexican Hat, State Parks, Things to do with kids, Travel, Utah and tagged Events, Goosenecks State Park, Mexican Hat, Things to do with kids, Travel, Utah. Bookmark the permalink.
Saturday, October 14, 2023: Mark Your Calendar!A total solar eclipse crossed the continental United States from coast to coast on August 21, 2017. Some 20 million people saw the Moon completely cover the Sun within a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina, and hundreds of millions more across all of North America and northern South America saw a partial solar eclipse that day. On October 14, 2023, the Moon will again pass directly between Earth and the Sun — but this time it will not quite completely cover the solar disk, instead turning it into a thin "ring of fire." This annular (Latin for ring-shaped) eclipse will be visible within a roughly 125-mile-wide path from Oregon to Texas and on into Mexico, Central America, and South America. Again, North Americans outside the path will be treated to a partial solar eclipse if the weather cooperates. The annular solar eclipse of February 26, 2017, photographed from Patagonia, South America. The sequence goes from left to right, with the Moon moving from upper left to lower right. For this eclipse the Moon covered about 98% of the Sun's bright face, leaving only a very thin "ring of fire" still shining. During the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse the ring will be fatter, as the Moon will cover only about 90% of the Sun. Courtesy Jay M. Pasachoff and Christian Lockwood. As explained in "How & Why Solar Eclipses Happen," by a cosmic coincidence the Sun and the Moon appear nearly the same size in our sky. The Sun's diameter is really about 400 times bigger than the Moon's, but the Sun is also about 400 times farther away than the Moon. Because Earth's orbit around the Sun and the Moon's orbit around Earth are both ellipses, not perfect circles, the apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon vary a little during the year (Sun) and during each month (Moon). Our planet is closest to the Sun (perihelion) in early January and farthest (aphelion) in early July, and the Sun appears about 3% wider in January than in July (not that you’d notice). When the Moon is closest to Earth (perigee), its apparent diameter is 11% larger than when it’s farthest (apogee); again, this effect is not too noticeable. When near perigee, the Moon can easily cover the entire solar disk and create a total solar eclipse. But near apogee the Moon is too small to cover all of the Sun's brilliant face. At mideclipse an annulus (ring) of brilliant sunlight surrounds the lunar silhouette, resulting in an annular eclipse. Like the total phase of a total solar eclipse, the annular phase of an annular eclipse is visible only within a narrow path across Earth's surface. Outside that path, observers under clear skies will see a partial eclipse instead. With the path of the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse stretching from Oregon to Texas before heading out into the Gulf of Mexico, where should you plan to rendezvous with the Moon's shadow if you wish to stay in the United States? Most eclipse aficionados go where the weather prospects are most favorable. For this eclipse, as shown in the graphic below, that's parts of Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. (As it turns out, the weather prospects in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula, Central America, and South America are generally less favorable than in the U.S., so staying in the U.S. is a good idea.) This graph shows the average October cloud cover (2000-2018) from satellite measurements at 10:30 am local time along the centerline of the October 14, 2023, annular eclipse track. Units are fractional sky cover, which can be interpreted as percent cloud cover. Courtesy Jay Anderson, Eclipsophile.com. Depending on your location within the path of annularity, the "ring of fire" effect in the U.S. will last up to 5 minutes. Since there will still be plenty of the Sun's bright face showing, it is absolutely essential throughout the entire eclipse to view through a safe solar filter, that is, one that meets the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Such filters are widely available and cost at most a few dollars. Looking at the uneclipsed or partially (or annularly) eclipsed Sun through dark sunglasses or any other unapproved filter is a recipe for serious and potentially permanent eye injury. See our Eye Safety and Resources pages for details. More Information About the Solar Eclipse of October 14, 2023
What 13 states will see the total eclipse in 2023?National Eclipse
In the U.S., the path of annularity will cross over Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. In Central America, the path of annularity will cross over Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Will there be a solar eclipse in Utah?October 14, 2023 — Annular Solar Eclipse — Utah
The animation shows what the eclipse approximately looks like in Utah. Stages and times of the eclipse are outlined below. All times are local time (MDT) for Utah.
Where is the best place to see the 2023 eclipse?San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas
San Antonio is the biggest city in the path of the 2023 solar eclipse with the entire event visible from the city and many of its suburbs.
What is the path of the 2023 solar eclipse?On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse will be visible to fortunate observers in the United States, Central America, and South America along a narrow band, approximately 130 miles (209 km) wide, that will cross fifteen states from Oregon to Texas and continue southward to Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean.
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