Beholding a wonder of the sky
By Daniel Arens
This coming Monday, a rare and incredible phenomenon is coming to the entire United States. It’s something you won’t want to miss -- but you’d better not actually look at it.
The wonder is a full solar eclipse, when the moon in its orbit passes between the earth and the sun, and “occults” (or covers) the sun. Unless you are along the “path of totality” (places where the entire sun is covered), it will still be dangerous to look directly at the sun.
If you want to have the opportunity to safely view the phenomenon in the area, you are in luck. Knife River Indian Villages (KRIV) is holding an eclipse viewing at the park throughout the day Aug. 21, and they will have the necessary equipment for beholding the wonder properly.
North Dakota will not receive the100 percent eclipse, but in Mercer County about 84 percent of the eclipse will be visible.
“This means when the eclipse occurs, we will see most of the moon covering the earth except for a tiny sliver of the sun,” Joanne Kerns, museum technician at KRIV, said. She added that, because the eclipse is not total, safety glasses will have to be worn at all times.
