PRIEST LAKE — On Monday, Aug. 21 from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. the Priest Lake Public Library will be throwing a Solar Eclipse Party. North Idaho is fortunate to experience 92 percent of a total eclipse.

At the library free, NASA-approved safety glasses for viewing will be available.

The library will showing “What is an Eclipse” documentary throughout the day and this video will be available for check-out.

Refreshments will be provided at the Solar Eclipse Party.

The eclipse will begin at 9:06 a.m. and end at 11:40 a.m. with totality starting at 10:20 a.m. and lasting only two minutes and forty seconds. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun, will stretch from Lincoln Beach, Ore., to Charleston, S.C. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun’s disk. Everyone in North America plus parts of South America, Africa, and Europe will see at least a partial solar eclipse, while the thin path of totality will pass through portions of fourteen states.

The last time the contiguous United States saw a total eclipse was in 1979. The next total eclipse in the contiguous United States will not occur until April 8, 2024 sweeping from Eastern Texas to Maine. The next one near Northern Idaho will not occur for another 152 years on June 25, 2169.

Solar Eclipses have mystified man since ancient times. Some of the more interesting beliefs are:

- In Vietnam, people believed that a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the Sun.

- Korean folklore offers another ancient explanation for solar eclipses. It suggests that solar eclipses happen because mythical dogs are trying to steal the sun.

- Ancient Hindu mythology, the deity Rahu is beheaded by the gods for capturing and drinking the gods’ nectar. Rahu’s head flies off into the sky and swallows the Sun causing the eclipse.

- People in many cultures get together to bang pots and pans and make loud noises during a solar eclipse. It is thought that making a noise scares the demon causing the eclipse away.

Not all superstitions surrounding solar eclipses are about doom. In Italy, it is believed that flowers planted during a solar eclipse are brighter and more colorful that flowers planted any other time of the year.

Please plan on attending the library’s Solar Eclipse Party at 28769 Highway 57, Priest Lake, Idaho. If you would like to contact the library, please call 208/443-2454 or visit our website. You can always like us on Facebook.

Portions of the above information was found on; eclipse2017.nasa.gov and timeanddate.com