BY KAREN BOSSICK

Matt Benjamin, an astronomer from Colorado, will present “The Great American Eclipse 101” on Monday, Aug. 14.

The free presentation will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14, Ketchum’s Forest Service Park at First and Washington streets. The presentation is sponsored by the Idaho Conservation League.

Benjamin will discuss how eclipses work, the marks they leave on history and safety issues. And he’ll discuss how people can best prepare to see the once-in-a-generation event.

Benjamin has spent the past decade managing the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado. He was an invited speaker and teacher for NASA’s Journey through the Universe program.

He has worked on everything from climate change to cosmic dawn. And in May 2012 he led an event that involved 10,000 people watching a partial solar eclipse.

Benjamin has been visiting Ketchum for 35 years with his family and considers Central Idaho a home away from home.