The Great North American Eclipse drops next Monday, April 8, and in preparation the city’s parks department has teamed up with UT Austin to provide eclipse glasses and telescopes with solar filters in all 10 City Council districts. The telescopes will be available for independent and guided viewing from noon to 3 p.m. at Colony Park, Onion Creek Soccer Complex, Roy G. Guerrero Metropolitan Park, Gus Garcia District Park, Mary Moore Searight Park, Pickfair Pocket Park, Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park, Zilker Metropolitan Park and Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center , which will also offer a livestream of the eclipse for people who want to remain indoors. “We are excited to partner with the City of Austin to enable eclipse viewing in our neighborhoods and Council districts,” UT’s president, Jay Hartzell, said in a statement to the press. “The scientists, researchers and other experts at UT are neighbors to the residents of Austin. We want to make sure that the entire city and its visitors benefit from having one of the top astronomy departments and research universities in the world right down the street.” Because of an expected influx of visitors and traffic, officials are advising everyone to stick close to home. Austin won’t be in the path of totality again for more than 319 years.
Elizabeth Pagano is the editor of the Austin Monitor. More by Elizabeth Pagano