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An eclipse victory: What it was like at Love Field in Dallas | Astronomy.com

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An eclipse victory: What it was like at Love Field in Dallas | Astronomy.com


Weather is a one-day event. For all of the analysis of trends, of where clouds or Sun will mark the landscape, anything can happen on any given day. In Texas, the weather prospects for the Great American Eclipse looked bleak. For days, the idea that storms would plague the region of Dallas, or at least thick clouds, seemed a sure thing. And then came eclipse day.

My journey this year was centered on Love Airport, a historic locality known in recent years for the landing site for John Kennedy’s ill-fated 1963 trip to Dallas. Being a history guy, I spent the remainder of my travel day visiting the sites associated with that dark day in November, more than 60 years ago, when the course of the nation suddenly and shockingly changed.

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The airport is still very active (we had planes taking off during totality!), and hosts a fantastic collection of aircraft and flight-related artifacts in the wonderful Frontiers of Flight Museum. Our hosts there, led by Abigail Erickson-Torres and facilitated by the energetic Rosalie Wade, assembled a wonderful day that invited some 2,500 members of the public into the grounds to view the eclipse.

The Editor of Astronomy Magazine was not alone, however. We partnered with our good friends at Celestron, and their staff turned out in force, with many people and several telescopes on the ground. The telescopic feed we relied on for potential TV use came from one of the Celestron scopes. Our good pals Corey Lee, Kevin Kawai, Ben Hauck, Stephanie Schroeter, and others were on hand. And that wasn’t all: Partners from The Weather Channel were also there, broadcasting live, with the great meteorologist Alex Wilson taking the lead on camera and a big team led by producer Mike Jenkins coordinating the whole process. I had a wonderful time spending parts of the day on camera with Alex, narrating our experience dodging clouds and seeing the alignment of worlds come together.

But as I said, when I drove to Love Field at 5 a.m. on eclipse day, it looked like a washout. Although I’m a galaxy guy, really most interested in deep-sky objects, as Editor of the brand you get to see lots of events. I had experienced a dozen total eclipses before this one, two of them underneath a solid blanket of clouds. Believe me, that’s not a good way to see an eclipse.

We got an early start on camera. It was an extreme pleasure working with Alex Wilson. She is such a smooth pro that it was effortless to talk about the science, the observations, the meaning of it all as we looked skyward and hoped for the alignment of worlds. As dawn broke, the sky was still sketchy and the forecast far less than great. I recall the network proclaiming that Maine seemed the best place as far as clear skies went. Mexico seemed troubled too. As we looked to the south, past Parkland Hospital on the horizon, walls of clouds seemed to be destined to move our way as the morning continued.

Astronomy Editor Dave Eicher teamed up with The Weather Channel’s Alex Wilson to provide eclipse commentary. Credit: Dave Eicher.

I spent the waning moments of pre-eclipse time in the museum auditorium with a packed house, delivering a lecture on everything everyone needed to know to view and image the eclipse. When I walked out into the field again at noon, with first contact approaching, the situation had changed. Clouds were less dense, and hope appeared. Amazingly enough, as we awaited first contact, we had significant holes and could get a good view of the Sun, some 60° high in the sky. We would see the start of things, at least.

As always happens, people screeched out in joy as the first little bite out of the Sun’s disk became visible. Although we’ve known about solar system motions precisely since the days of Johannes Kepler, it always seems a bit like magic to many people when we count down by the second and an eclipse starts. And then, even with thick clouds visible way down to the south, we had a long, vertical corridor of clear sky that seemed to favor us as totality approached.

It dawned on us that we were going to defy the odds and see this thing. Excitedly, Alex Wilson and I narrated much of what was happening on The Weather Channel, off and on. The rapid darkening of the sky during the final moments before totality always amazes, and we had a rapid cooling of air too. The diamond ring! Glasses off! We had totality and it looked spectacular!

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Our Love Field site experienced 3 minutes 51 seconds of totality, and we saw the whole thing perfectly. The corona seemed large, flower-like, and with some pretty good brushes and rays, too, expected from the current cycle of solar activity. We had some nice prominences too, especially one at bottom right (as we faced south), that was incredibly bright near the end of totality. Venus popped out immediately and Jupiter too, after a bit of cloud passed it, and we did not expect to see Comet Pons-Brooks, nor waste time with binoculars searching for it. The chromosphere seemed bright around the Moon’s rim but lacked the color we saw in 2017. It was a beautiful eclipse, however, and we felt very lucky to have seen it so well.

It’s always struck me as funny that as soon as totality ends, the interest in the rest of the eclipse, for the next hour plus, kinda fades away. But alas, everyone was elated, celebrating a great view, and the party started. We had a very happy airport full of people, on a natural high from the experience, and already talking about other eclipse adventures — Iceland, Spain, and yes, the most amazing one to come, Egypt.

I hope that you also experienced a great eclipse. There’s nothing that quite equals seeing the worlds align, and remember that the Moon is inching away from us a little bit every year. We have only 600 million more years to catch total eclipses, and then they will be a thing of the past.

David J. Eicher is Editor of Astronomy, author of 26 books on science and history, and a board member of the Starmus Festival and of Lowell Observatory.



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Dallas, TX

FC Dallas Homegrown Diego Garcia Called into U.S. U19 Men's National Team

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FC Dallas Homegrown Diego Garcia Called into U.S. U19 Men's National Team


FC Dallas Homegrown midfielder Diego Garcia has been called up to the U.S. U19 Men’s National Team for its first camp of 2025 from June 2-10 in Marbella, Spain. The USA will play host Spain on Saturday, June 7, and Ukraine on Tuesday, June 10. Both matches will be played at Estadio Guillermo Amor in Benidorm, Spain.

He will depart for the national team following the club’s weekend home game on May 31 against the Philadelphia Union.

Garcia made his FC Dallas debut on May 7 in Dallas’ U.S. Lamar Hunt Round of 16 matchup versus AV ALTA FC after entering the match in the 75th minute. Garcia signed as the 38th FC Dallas Homegrown player on Nov. 16, 2022. 

The 18-year old saw a productive year in 2024 with North Texas SC. The club went on to win MLS NEXT Pro Cup and Garcia was a big part of that team. He scored eight goals and seven assists through the regular season and playoffs, including two game-winning goals and two game-winning assists. Garcia set a club record as the youngest player to reach 50 appearances (18 years, 4 days).

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Dallas Cowboys’ NFC East division ranks among the NFL’s elite

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Dallas Cowboys’ NFC East division ranks among the NFL’s elite


A new year means a new sense of optimism surrounding the Dallas Cowboys. This past season is one that everyone would like wiped clean of their memory.

The final year of the Mike McCarthy era ended in a whimper. Although, we hate to use injuries as an excuse, but the Cowboys’ sideline looked like the Tune Squad after the first half of their game against the Monstars in ‘Space Jam’.

However, it is a new year, new me mentality with America’s Team, and the hope is that first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer will right the ship.

Brian Schottenheimer taking extra measures to strengthen bonds off the field

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It won’t be easy getting the Cowboys back on top. The NFC East grew leaps and bounds last season, with the NFC Championship being between two teams from the division.

Darius Slay, Jayden Daniel

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels after the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Recently, Loc Scataglia from NFL Spin Zone ranked every NFL division heading into the 2025 season. To no surprise, the NFC East was one of the top divisions in Scataglia’s rankings.

“The 2024 NFL Season saw the NFC Championship Game played by two teams in the NFC East, but the main issue here is that the two other teams are quite bad. The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants have to figure themselves out, as this division is obviously only a two-horse race with the Eagles and Commanders,” wrote Scataglia, who has the NFC East as the fourth toughest division heading into the 2025 season.

If healthy, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cowboys have a great first season under Schottenheimer.

However, winning this division will take more than health this season.

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Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer reacts while speaking to the media at a press conference at the Star.

Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer reacts while speaking to the media at a press conference at the Star. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

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Game Day Guide: Stars at Oilers | Dallas Stars

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Game Day Guide: Stars at Oilers | Dallas Stars


First Shift 🏒

Maybe the best thing about the Stars’ ability to deal with adversity is that they handle change very well.

Heiskanen in? No problem, we’ll try seven defensemen. Seguin back? Shuffle the lines. Robertson trying to find a niche when his spot gets taken by Mikael Granlund during a playoff injury absence? Well, we’ll work it out.

So with Roope Hintz possibly returning for Game 4 after missing Game 3, the Stars seem more than equipped to handle whatever happens. Hintz skated in warmup for Game 3, but didn’t play. As a result, Granlund moved to center and Robertson jumped from the fourth line to the first. While Dallas lost a 6-1 game, the analytics of the moves were surprisingly successful. Robertson had five shots on goal and tallied his first goal of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the reshuffled fourth line of Steel with Colin Blackwell and Oskar Bäck combined for eight shots on goal in about 13 minutes of ice time.

“It’s next man up,” said Granlund. “You just adjust.”

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Hintz skated at practice Monday in Edmonton and looked good. However, he still has to go through a morning skate on Tuesday and the Stars then probably won’t make a final decision until after the pregame warm-up.

“Heal and get better and cross our fingers and try it again in warmups,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Monday.

Hintz, who received a slash from Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse in Game 2 on the top of his skate and suffered a “lower body injury,” said he is optimistic.

“The biggest thing right now for me is to just worry about what I can do that I can be able to play tomorrow,” Hintz said after practice. “You want to play every game, especially in the playoffs. Every game is so important. Sometimes sports are what they are. I’m now trying everything that I can so tomorrow I am able to play.”

If Hintz comes back in, there is the thought he would center Granlund and Rantanen, as he has for much of the playoffs. Could that change what Robertson is doing? Would the coaches put Robertson back on the fourth line or is there a better spot for him?

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“They just made that adjustment and I had to step up,” Robertson said of Game 3. “It’s up to everybody to step up.”

In addition to finding a spot for Robertson if Hintz returns, DeBoer and company will have to look at the fourth line. Because of the health of the team in recent games, the traditional fourth line hasn’t been together as much. But the trio of Steel, Blackwell and Bäck had some real success during the regular season and early in the playoffs. Could they earn a spot in Game 4 while a more regular forward gets a healthy scratch?

“They were great last night,” DeBoer said. “If every time we got them together and played them, they played like that…we wouldn’t have broken them up. They gave us some great juice last night and if we get them back out there together, whether that’s tomorrow night or the next night, we need the same thing.”

And while the fourth line can help tilt the ice, the Stars do need someone to score goals. They have one in the past two games against Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner and have scored just 10 in seven road games (1.42 per game) in the postseason. So whatever they do with the potential return of Hintz, they have to find a way to score more goals.

“I think last night was one of our better games,” said forward Wyatt Johnston. “We can do a better job of finishing. No matter who you are playing, you want to get bodies in front of the goalie and make life difficult for him.”

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The Stars have done that before. They won Game 7 against Colorado with a four-goal third period and had five goals in the third against Edmonton in Game 1. They have been able to raise their offensive game when the need has been there.

“It’s 2-1 in the series and we still have an opportunity to get one on the road,” Robertson said. “So I don’t think there’s any frustration. We know what we have to do.”



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