Texas A&M Forest Service stresses fire, eye safety when viewing next month's annular solar eclipse

The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) is advising Texans with plans to watch an annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14 to take precautions to refrain from sparking a wildfire.

"As you prepare to travel and watch this rare and exciting lunar event, remember to recreate responsibly and avoid sparking a wildfire, TFS wrote in a Sept. 5 Facebook post. "Check for local outdoor fire restrictions and elevated fire weather conditions. If a wildfire occurs, the smoke may prevent everyone around you from seeing the eclipse."

According to TFS, the annular eclipse is slated to occur before a total solar eclipse that’ll take place six months later, on April 8, 2024. An annular eclipse involves the sun creating a “ring of fire” around the moon as the latter’s shadow covers the former. “Daylight will dim significantly during the annular eclipse, though not as dark as the total eclipse,” the TFS said in its Facebook post. “Those lucky enough to be in the path of totality will see the dramatic view for nearly five minutes.”

The TFS and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) urged the public to practice proper eye safety when viewing the eclipse. “When watching an annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (‘eclipse glasses’) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times,” NASA said on its website. “Eclipse glasses are not regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the sun.” Per NASA, safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and are in compliance with the ISO 12312-2 international standard.

NASA said that the annular eclipse will make its way through North, Central, and South America, taking place over the U.S. from 9:13 a.m. Pacific to 12:03 p.m. Central. Texas will be the last place in the country to see the eclipse.