STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Half of the fun come Monday morning may not be watching the total solar eclipse but watching the reactions of people around you.

Astronomer Matt Benjamin says he’s see people break down and sob while watching a total solar eclipse. People who have never cussed before in their lives begin swearing a blue streak. And others go deep into prayer.

“Animals act weird as we go into a sunset-sunrise routine. I’ve seen bats come out of their caves, livestock begin heading to the barn and whales and dolphins come to the surface of the ocean,” he said. “But the animal that acts the strangest of all is the humans. Calm, mild mannered people go absolutely bonkers.”

Up to 370,000 people could be flocking to Idaho to experience anywhere between 60 and 120 seconds of darkness when the moon blacks out the sun at 11:29 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 21.

And those who make the effort will not regret it, as it’s one of the most spectacular things they will ever see in their lives, said Benjamin, an astronomer from Boulder, Colo., who has been vacationing in Sun Valley since he was a little boy.

“Eclipses bring out the primal curiosity in people. They get people who wouldn’t normally look up to look up,” he said. “We find absolute curiosity in what the cosmos has to offer. And in this case, we’re dealing with two of the most dominant celestial objects in the sky.”

What makes this total solar eclipse so unique is that it crosses the entire width of the United States for the first time in 99 years. The last time that happened in 1918, the Sun Valley-Stanley area was also in the crosshairs, Benjamin said.

Benjamin suggests that eclipse watchers have a lounge chair or, at least, a pillow so they can lay back and watch the entire event from the time the moon first takes a bite out of the sun beginning at 10:12 a.m.

“The sun will be high in the sky so lay back and enjoy it or else you could get a crick in your neck like you might get from sitting on the front-row of a movie theater,” said Benjamin. “Or, watch it for five minutes, take a break and talk with friends and check back with the sun 10 minutes later.”

The show in Ketchum will last about 90 minutes.

10:12 a.m.—The moon takes its first bite out of the sun. PUT ON YOUR APPROVED ECLIPSE GLASSES as you begin to watch the moon take a bigger and bigger chomp.

Crescent-shaped sunbeams reflecting these bites will dapple the ground, especially if you’re under trees. If you don’t see them, poke a hole in a piece of paper and hold it between the sun and the ground. Or, cross your fingers, allowing the sun to shine through them. Better yet, hold a couple Ritz crackers between the sun and ground.

11:15 a.m. It’ll start getting dark. You should be able to see Venus and some stars in the sky.

11:28 a.m.—DON’T BLINK!

• You may see shadow bands or thin wavy undulating lines snake across the ground.
• 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. The diamond ring effect is magnified for those at the edge of path of totality
• An array of brilliant beads of sunlight will appear 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.
• The moon will seem to snap shut and you may notice a moon shadow rushing from the west at 2,000 miles an hour. IT’S NOW SAFE TO REMOVE YOUR GLASSES, as you will not see anything with them on.
• The sun’s corona, a halo of plasma that surrounds sun and other stars, will feature streamers and rays emanating from the sun. Photographs, as astounding as they may be, do not do justice to seeing the corona in person.
• The temperature will drop between 10 and 20 degrees, especially for those at altitude.
• And you will see Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and the winter constellations since you’re seeing this during the day.
• All of these thingswill happen in reverse order as totality ends. It will begin to get light as the moon shadow moves away. The first rays of sunshine, known as the diamond ring, will come back. And the moon will slide off the sun until about 12:53 p.m. PUT ON YOUR ECLIPSE GLASSES as the diamond ring comes back in view.

If you’re observant, you may be able to see sunrise and sunset at the same time during the event.

“It’s a profound experience that impacts the mind, body and soul, comparable to that of experiencing a birth,” said Benjamin. “It brings out raw emotions. It reminds me how special life is, how fleeting life is and how we are not to take for granted the time we have.”

And if there’s smoky haze from fires burning in Oregon?

“The sun will give off a redder glow. It’ll add to the feeling of the end of the world.”

The experience of viewing a total solar eclipse makes Benjamin feel very small but very connected to everything as he basks in his insignificance.

“For a brief moment we’ll all feel part of something together. And I think that’s more important than ever given the national discourse. For more than two minutes we’ll come together and appreciate the same thing. We’ll understand we’re all on this planet together and we’ll understand that this is our pale blue dot, our precious world.”