Four+ minutes of totality is about as good as it gets.
I saw one such in Oaxaca summer of ‘91, quite by chance when visiting a friend.
A ring of fire around a black sun, bright stars in a black sky around the sun, surrounded by a 360 degree dawn around the horizon. I suspect the black sky/stars effect might be less dramatic closer to the edge of the shadow/shorter full totality.
I’ve already seen one, so won’t be braving the crowds for this one. Well worth a trip for someone who hasn’t.
What do you mean you'll sit this one out? It is coming to your town.
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Start of the partial eclipse for downtown San Antonio will begin at 12:14 PM CDT and end at 2:55 PM CDT. Maximum eclipse will take place at 1:34 PM CDT. Spectators in the San Antonio area will observe 99.9% obscuration of the Sun during this time.
A partial eclipse is a world away from a full eclipse, not even close, all the way until the moment the sun is completely blocked.
School is in session where I’m at that day. Absentee rates, among both staff and students will be astronomical (and should be). I’ve been encouraging everyone who can get to an area of totality to go but for many kids it ain’t that easy.
IIRC Lackland AFB on the West Side will get nine seconds of totality. A ten minute drive away and you’re at a full minute, a bit past that 90 seconds. That’s how local the edge of that round shadow of full totality is.
The only partial eclipse I’m sorry I missed IIRC was around May of maybe 2013. Partial eclipse, I didn’t even bother to step outside. I should have done, I didn’t realize the sun was gonna set in partial eclipse, that was spectacular, like a multi-planet system from science fiction.
All I had to do was step outside.
