Residents of Texas viewed a partial solar eclipse Aug. 21 when the moon covered the sun about 65-67 percent in the Austin area. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible in Central Texas, said Torvald Hessel, founder and chief strategy officer of the Texas Museum of Science & Technology in Cedar Park. This year’s eclipse completely covered the sun along its path of totality, which reached from the coast of Oregon to the coast of Virginia, Hessel said. The eclipse in 2024 will run from Texas to Maine, according to NASA’s eclipse website. In the path of totality, an eclipse causes darkness and cooler temperatures, and it confuses nature, Hessel said. It can even cause birds to fall asleep. “We, in Central Texas, are in luck,” Hessel said. “We will have a total solar eclipse coming straight over Central Texas.”