The eclipse gives astronomy clubs an opportunity to shine

Danielle Rappaport has been fielding a flood of emails about the upcoming total solar eclipse: where to go and how to view what will be, for many people, a once-in-a-lifetime event. With San Antonio the first major U.S. city to glimpse the eclipse, Rappaport, the outreach coordinator for the local astronomy club, has some advice: Get out of town.

"Actually, it's only going to hit the westernmost part" of the city, she says. And any place in the path of totality — the moment when the moon perfectly covers the sun — that is easily accessible by road will be inundated with gawkers gazing skyward. "San Antonio is going to get swamped," she says.

While some of her fellow members of the will be at Northwest Vista College and answer questions, Rappaport is heading to Garner State Park, about 100 miles west of the city, to avoid the crowds. She recommends that others stay out of the cities.