STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The ancients banged on drums to chase the moon away when it blotted out the sun. They even hit their dogs, hoping the howling would scare off the moon.

You won’t find anything of the sort in the dog-loving Sun Valley.

But there will be plenty to howl about come the day of the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21 which, by the way, is just 24 days away.

“It is absolutely the most awe-inspiring astronomical event—period,” Bellevue astronomy buff Tim Frazier told a packed audience at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden Tuesday.

Frazier’s presentation, which included photographs, illustrations and even video, proved so popular that the Sawtooth Botanical Garden scheduled a second. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Saturday, July 29, at the garden and will include the opportunity to view the surface of the sun through a solar telescope.

Cost is $15 for SBG members and $20 for nonmembers. Preregistration is required at www.sbgarden.org or by calling 208-726-9358.

Watching the sun suddenly go out was a terrifying event for the ancients, said Frazier, who is vice president of the Magic Valley Astronomy Society. The Chinese believed a dragon devoured the sun, eventually spitting it back out. Filipinos believed the sun was changing clothes; they refrained from looking at it, thereby granting it privacy.

Babylonians predicted solar eclipses as early as 2500 BCE. Keeping data enabled them to predict  eclipses with reasonable accuracy—and with good reason. They regarded eclipses as evil omens directed against their kings—being able to predict them enabled them to appoint substitute kings who could bear the brunt of the gods’ wrath.

Viewing the total solar eclipse three weeks from now will encompass much more than simply donning a pair of glasses when the moon covers the sun.

In fact, you won’t want to wear glasses during the time the moon blocks out the sun—you won’t be able to see it with glasses on, said Frazier.

There will be several phenomena to look for leading up to and after the moment of totality.

• First, crescent-shaped sunbeams will dapple the ground.
• A minute before totality, shadow bands—or thin wavy undulating lines--will move across surfaces.
• Just before totality, a diamond ring, or a single brilliant diamond of sunlight, will appear on one side where the sun has already been covered.
• Then the diamond will break up to be replaced by an array of brilliant beads of sunlight around the sun. These are named after Francis Baily, who determined the bright beads were actually rays of sunlight passing through deep mountainous valleys on the moon.
• The disappearance of the last bead marks the beginning of totality as the moon completely blocks out the sun. We’ll be able to see the sun’s corona, an aura of plasma that surrounds the sun and stars.

The upper atmosphere of the sun, the corona comes from the Latin word meaning crown and resembles a halo around the sun. When there are a lot of sunspots, the spikes are fairly uniform around the sun. During periods with few sun spots, they can be wild and erratic. We’ll probably see the wild version since there are almost no sun spots right now, Frazier said.

Look for these phenomena to happen in reverse order as totality ends.

Even if the day is cloudy, eclipse watchers will be able to tune into phenomena that’s positively strange for the middle of the day.

Kristin Fletcher, the SBG’s education director, described how she watched the moon shadow pass over the land while viewing an eclipse near Salmon, Idaho. As dark fell, temperatures plummeted and fog appeared above the river. As light reemerged and temperatures warmed, the fog dissipated.

“It gets very, very dark so that people need to turn their headlights on. My dog even bit his tail—the only time he’s done that,” she recalled.

WILL THE BIRDS AND BEES PUT ON A SHOW?

Some local eclipse watchers plan to go where the birds are and tape their twitter during the eclipse. And zookeepers in Columbia, S.C., plan to study elephants, flamingos, giraffes and gorillas during the event.

Birds go into nighttime mode, roosting when they perceive dusk is falling. “They’ll think, ‘Boy, that was a short night,’ as the sun reemerges,” Frazier said.

Don’t worry about dogs during the eclipse—they’re not stupid enough to look at the sun, Frazier said. That said, they may curl up for a short nap, thinking its nighttime.

HOW TO VIEW THE SOLAR ECLIPSE

Sunglasses will not protect your eyes.

The easiest way to protect your eyes is to purchase eclipse glasses that cost as little as $2 at places like Jane’s Artifacts, Idaho Conservation League, the Hailey Chamber Welcome Center and Chapter One Bookstore. A label inside the glasses will say whether they meet the standard for eye protection.

As you see the sun crescents and shadow bands form, look down and put the eclipse glasses on. Use them to watch the diamond ring and Baily’s Beads. You can take them off during totality. When you see Baily’s beads begin to form again, put them back on.

You can take a picture during totality since you don’t need eye protection during that time.

Don’t take a picture with your camera when you’re wearing eclipse glasses unless you have a solar filter on your camera. If you do plan to take a picture during totality, have a flashlight handy as it will be dark.

“I know some people don’t think it’s real until you put on Facebook. But don’t forget to look,” said Frazier. “This is an event you’re never forget. Be sure to experience it in real time.”

You can also build a solar viewer by making a pinhole projector with a cardboard box, aluminum foil or pie pan and white paper.

A MOMENT OR TWO OF TOTALITY

Sun Valley’s River Run Lodge is just in the line of totality—expect about 58 seconds of totality there.

By contrast, you’ll find up to two minutes 34 seconds of totality just north of Redfish Lake before Stanley. Other areas near the center line of totality include Grandjean, south of Chilly, just north of Mackay and between Rigby and Rexburg.

DID YOU KNOW?

It was a solar eclipse that made Albert Einstein a rock star. British astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington staged eclipse voyages to Antarctica and Africa to take pictures of the stars near the sun during the total solar eclipse in 1919. His work confirmed Einstein’s theory of relativity or the contention that gravity can bend light.