Total Solar Eclipse Passes Over UT Campus
By Jasmine Palacios
Reporting Texas TV
AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of students celebrated the total solar eclipse Monday at the University of Texas Main Mall.
Longhorn Band member Christina Lopez said she was excited about the opportunity to perform for her fellow students.
“There are not a lot of places in Austin or in the path of totality having a big event like this, and you only get to see the Longhorn Band perform these songs only a couple of times,” Lopez said.
The band performed eclipse-themed music like the song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” before the main event. Lopez said this is the first Longhorn Band to perform for an eclipse.
“I feel really lucky as a student to get to be experiencing this, but also as a Longhorn band member to be with my friends in the fringe getting to perform for this opportunity,” she said.
Packed crowds watch the minutes of darkness during the total solar eclipse at the UT Main Mall in Austin, Texas, on April 8, 2024. (Jasmine Palacios/ Reporting Texas TV).
Other bands including Mariachi Paredes de Tejastitlán also had eclipse-themed performances.
UT freshman Melanie Ramirez went to the event to watch her friend play the violin in the Mariachi Laboratory Ensemble.
“I love hearing mariachi music. It’s so cool,” Ramirez said. “This event gets me so excited.”
UT canceled classes during the eclipse. Packed crowds of students and staff watched as the moon crossed directly in front of the sun at 1:35 p.m. The period of totality lasted a little less than two minutes.
Senior Grace Emmert called watching the eclipse a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The last total solar eclipse in Central Texas was in 1878 which made this a historic moment for everyone.
Families put on burnt orange eclipse glasses in Austin, Texas, on April 8, 2024. (Jasmine Palacios/ Reporting Texas TV)
Senior Cate Pruitt attended with her roommates.
“I don’t have much knowledge about the eclipse other than I know that this is life-changing and I’ll tell my kids about it,” Pruitt said.
The next total solar eclipse over Austin will not happen until 2044.
“I can’t think of a better way to end off my time as a student than to be surrounded by the Austin community and all my fellow students, so Hook ‘em horns,” Emmert said.