2023-10-14 Solar Eclipse/locations

To observe the Annular Solar Eclipse of 2023-10-14 in the United States of America (USA), you want to be as far east as possible in order to have the highest possible altitude angle at the time of eclipse maximum.  However, you also need to be in a location with clear (or mostly clear) skies and no (or very little) wind.  Corpus Christi (Texas) is the eastern terminus of the eclipse path in the USA but the weather in October for coastal Texas may not be favorable, which means getting further inland.  The next stop west along the eclipse centerline after Corpus Christi (Texas) is Hobbs (New Mexico).

A major difference between a Total Solar Eclipse or Partial Solar Eclipse and an Annular Solar Eclipse is that in order to properly witness Solar annularity, you must be as close as possible to the eclipse centerline and not simply anywhere inside the eclipse path.  Any deviation from the eclipse centerline will cause Luna to appear off-axis and thus will not form a true Solar annulus.  Whereas during Solar totality, your geographic position inside the eclipse path determines the duration of totality but does not significantly affect the appearance of totality, unlike during an Annular Solar Eclipse.  This makes observing an Annular Solar Eclipse much more challenging than a Total Solar Eclipse since the number of available eclipse observation sites decreases in proportion to the square of decreasing distance from the eclipse centerline.

Additional considerations are that you need an unobstructed field of view in the direction of Sol (such as no buildings or trees in the way) and you will get a clearer view if there is vegetation or water in the azimuth direction of Sol (not sand, pavement, or buildings).  Ideally you want to avoid any urban areas since this can degrade seeing quality.  Your parking space should also be close enough to the observation site so that you have a direct line of sight between your telescope and your vehicle.

Locations listed here should be within 2⁻¹⁶ of a Terran mean circumference (0.6108 kilometers, 0.3795 miles, 668.0 yards, or 2004 feet) from the eclipse centerline which should provide the best possible Solar annulus.

Click here to view the eclipse centerline with Google Maps.

The data provided here is intended as a general guideline only and may contain errors.  These locations were identified based on remote imagery from Google Maps and other than from the information that I can find available on the World Wide Web, I have no idea if they still exist or are publicly accessible.  You should have multiple locations selected in advance, scout the locations in person the day before the eclipse, and allow yourself enough time on the morning of the eclipse to change locations if necessary.

Remember that you should use GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates to find observing sites and not rely on street addresses, especially since many parks and wilderness areas may have a postal address that is far away from the actual location.

If you think that any locations should be removed from or added to this list, please let me know.  If you have actually visited any of these locations in person, I would love to get any feedback about their accessibility and usability for the Annular Solar Eclipse.

Latitudes and longitudes were identified using Google Maps.  Elevations are from the USGS (USA Geological Survey) Elevation Point Query Service.  Eclipse start times, times of eclipse maximum, eclipse end times, eclipse magnitudes (mag.), and altitude angles at maximum eclipse (expressed as airmasses [AM]) are from Occult of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA).  Average cloudiness (cl.) for October 14, average windspeed for October (expressed on the Beaufort wind force [BWF] scale), average air temperature (te.) for October, and average air pressure (pr.) for October are from Time and Date Aksjeselskap.

location	address	latitude	longitude	elevation	start	max	end	mag.	AM	cl.	BWF	te.	pr.	TZ
Packery Channel Nature Park	14218 Park Rd. 22, Corpus Christi, TX 78418	27.625897698915846	-97.22182948609891	2.680001259 m	10:26:51	11:58:52	13:38:55	0.975	1.3	54%	2.6	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Sarnia Park	400A North Shoreline Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	27.793124989041890	-97.38836177300280	1.547900558 m	10:26:30	11:58:20	13:38:16	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Sherrill Park	222 South Shoreline Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	27.791001004482155	-97.39255437129611	4.194799900 m	10:26:30	11:58:20	13:38:16	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Artesian Park	813 North Chapparral St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	27.799417121281763	-97.39472550982606	1.392152786 m	10:26:29	11:58:19	13:38:15	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Spohn Park	213 North Mesquite St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	27.794126148686153	-97.39597399238578	3.241936207 m	10:26:30	11:58:20	13:38:15	0.975	1.3	54%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Upper Broadway Park	901 Leopard St., Corpus Christi, TX 78401	27.795710095997112	-97.40023169807303	9.774136543 m	10:26:29	11:58:19	13:38:15	0.975	1.3	58%	2.9	24°C	1016 mb	Z-5
Washington Park	520 South Fourth St., Hobbs, NM 88240	32.695132402803730	-103.12189621057546	1098.750366211 m	09:17:09	10:43:41	12:18:57	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb	Z-6
King Soccerplex	1409 South Dal Paso St., Hobbs, NM 88240	32.688477524764100	-103.12695071680100	1097.685668945 m	09:17:09	10:43:41	12:18:57	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb	Z-6
Humble Park	820 North Grimes St., Hobbs, NM 88240	32.709323605820530	-103.14448250020470	1108.900268555 m	09:17:07	10:43:38	12:18:53	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb	Z-6
Bensing Park	1401 West Clinton St., Hobbs, NM 88240	32.707339411317975	-103.15193967651592	1110.165893555 m	09:17:07	10:43:37	12:18:52	0.974	1.5	32%	3.1	17°C	1016 mb	Z-6
Three Gun Trailhead	2113 Osuna Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113	35.076468878467640	-106.44417450199971	1927.192138672 m	09:13:23	10:37:13	12:09:49	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Embudo Trailhead	2113 Osuna Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113	35.099015280469736	-106.47977064544932	1883.783081055 m	09:13:21	10:37:09	12:09:43	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Menaul Trailhead	3615 Los Picaros Rd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87105	35.104931742101790	-106.48832607476871	1826.338378906 m	09:13:21	10:37:09	12:09:42	0.974	1.7	27%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Holiday Park	11710 Comanche Rd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111	35.123171939684750	-106.50832103164810	1746.963500977 m	09:13:20	10:37:06	12:09:39	0.974	1.7	26%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Haynes Park	2006 Grande Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.222059979304080	-106.66316591794453	1595.085327148 m	09:13:11	10:36:51	12:09:16	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Chianti Park	1210 Chianti Rd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.233921693072990	-106.68108346390880	1622.498168945 m	09:13:10	10:36:49	12:09:13	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Cabezon Park	2307 Cabezon Blvd. NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.231706034043285	-106.68944544040455	1617.995361328 m	09:13:10	10:36:48	12:09:12	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Western Winds Park	2260 Zaragoza Rd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.245321265835486	-106.69098172286776	1650.114257813 m	09:13:09	10:36:48	12:09:11	0.974	1.7	24%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Star Heights Park	800 Polaris Blvd. SE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.246861788085420	-106.70309738645146	1669.708618164 m	09:13:09	10:36:47	12:09:10	0.974	1.7	25%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6
Sugar Park	500 Sugar Rd. NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144	35.252691116277410	-106.70920894518393	1698.722534180 m	09:13:08	10:36:46	12:09:09	0.974	1.7	25%	1.8	15°C	1015 mb	Z-6

see also

• https://www.nicolesharp.net/eclipses/2023-10-14.htm
• 2023-10-14 Solar Eclipse
• 2023-10-14 Solar Eclipse/coordinates
• 2023-10-14 Solar Eclipse/ephemerides

keywords

2023, 2023-10, 2023-10-14, annular, annularity, eclipse, Luna, Lunar, Moon, Sol, Solar, Sun