Use solar viewing safety glasses to safely view a solar eclipse.
Viewing a solar eclipse is exciting, but it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection. Check out these resources for safely viewing a solar eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse will take place in Texas on October 14, 2023. A total solar eclipse will take place in Texas (right here in Dallas!) on April 8, 2024. These websites will provide you with more information about them.
Through support from Buc-ee’s®, the Houston Museum of Natural Science would like to provide all the schools in the Dallas ISD with FREE support materials for the upcoming total solar eclipse in 2024. Materials will include eclipse viewers mailed to your school, supporting lesson plans, free virtual programs, and more.
If you would like to add yourself, or someone from your school, to the Eclipse Email List, please fill out the form below. This will opt you, or a designated person, into receiving a monthly email with these free resources AND will help the Houston Museum of Natural Science know who to mail the eclipse viewers to this spring.
This is a once in a lifetime event and the Houston Museum of Natural Science is excited to prepare you and your students to experience it!
How far away is Earth from the Sun? Why don't we have a solar eclipse every month? Answer these questions, learn from scientists at NASA, hear from Stephen Hawking, and more using the solar eclipse video library below.
Samantha Bradbury, Region 10 ESC, Science Consultant
Heather Appleby, Dallas College, Professor
Rosalie Wade, Frontiers of Flight Museum, Director of Education
NASA educators and scientists
Patricia Reiff, Rice University, Professor
Shoebox version of a pinhole viewer
There are many interesting activities you can do to explore solar eclipses. Making a model allows you to explore size and distance scales or even proportions and angular size. You can also make your own solar eclipse viewers! Check out some ideas below.
In citizen science, the public participates voluntarily in the scientific process, addressing real-world problems in ways that may include formulating research questions, conducting scientific experiments, collecting and analyzing data, interpreting results, making new discoveries, developing technologies and applications, and solving complex problems. Here are some ways you can observe a solar eclipse and work as a citizen scientist.