Austin

A woman wearing a cap uses binoculars to look at the sky.

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Central Texas has some of the best seats in the country for the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse April 8.

Photos: Austinites find wonder in the eclipse despite cloudy sky

KUT 90.5 | By KUT Staff

Published April 9, 2024 at 7:39 AM CDT

Three people look up at the sky using eclipse glasses. — Did you get a good look? It'll be a while before we see another total solar eclipse.

Even with a cloudy forecast, many Austinites got plenty of glimpses at the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse on Monday.

Crowds began to gather across the city hours before the partial eclipse.

A crowd of people in front of the UT tower. — A crowd of people gather at the south side of the UT Austin tower to watch the eclipse.

A woman lying on the grass draws images of the eclipse in a sketchbook. — A woman draws images of the eclipse at the Long Center.

A person lies on a ledge with a book over his face. — A person at the Long Center rests on a ledge with a book over his head while waiting for the eclipse.

Students at Reilly Elementary School in Austin were excited to be on campus for the eclipse.

“I also think it’s good for education because we get to learn about it while we get to see it happen,” George, a second-grader, said. “I think that really teaches us how it happens and how a solar eclipse works and what effects it has.”

Young kids look up at the sky with special solar glasses attached to colorful paper plates. — The students at Reilly Elementary attached their solar glasses to decorated paper plates.

In the Hill Country town of Kerrville — one of the prime viewing spots for the eclipse with a whopping 4 1/2 minutes of totality — tourists from across the country flocked to the Kerrclipse Festival.

People gather to watch the eclipse at the Kerrclipse Festival.

The sun being partially obscured by the moon during the eclipse. — The beginning of the partial eclipse seen from Kerrville. The city was a popular eclipse spot because of the length of totality.

As totality neared, things got dark. Real dark. People reacted with cheers, tears and awe.

A young child looks up at the sky while holding an eclipse viewer. People are behind the kid also looking up. — Travis County and Austin had many resources and plans in place for Monday's eclipse.

The moon moves to cover the sun during the total eclipse in Austin. — The moon moves to cover the sun during the eclipse in Austin.

A sliver of the sun can be seen as the eclipse nears totality.

A white misty ring of light around a black circle against a black background. — A white halo is visible during totality in Kerrville.

A composite of the total solar eclipse, taken during the Kerrclipse Festival on April 8, 2024, in Kerrville. — A composite of the total solar eclipse, taken during the Kerrclipse Festival.

A crowd of people in the dark against the Austin skyline. — The Austin sky went dark and the lights came on during the eclipse.

A crowd of people in front of the UT tower in the dark. The tower is lit up orange. — The day looked like night by the Littlefield Fountain on the UT Austin campus.

We hope you got a good long look. The next total solar eclipse in Austin will be on Feb. 25, 2343. But the next one in Texas is in 2045 — that's like a blink of an eye!