Planning is well under way for events surrounding the total solar eclipse on August 21st.

A total solar eclipse is a lineup of the sun, moon and earth with the moon between the sun and earth casting a shadow on our planet. This is the first kind of event to cross the entire country in about 100 years.

St. Joseph is in the path of totality and will see two minutes and 38.6 seconds of totality.

Beth Conway is part of the St. Joseph Solar Eclipse Steering Committee. She said the eclipse begins at 11:40 a.m. on Monday, August 21st.

“Total eclipse, which is totality, starts at 1:06 and ends about 1:09,” Conway said. “So that’s right in the middle of the day when the sun’s going to be at a 60 degree angle, right above us, it’ll be a perfect viewing spot here in St. Joe and, knock on wood, it’ll be a perfectly clear day.”

In addition to Trails West! being August 18-21, with the theme of “Total Eclipse of the Arts,” many events are being planned for the weekend including a speaker series at Missouri Western State University. Astronomy Magazine’s Michael Bakich will speak and he’s bringing along Meteorologist Bryan Busby.

“They’re going to do some community talks about the eclipse and how weather relates to that,” Conway said. “He is also hosting the event out at Rosecrans which will be a place where he’s going to bring in scientists, astronomers, friends of his, with their high powered telescopes and they’re actually going to be able to camp out there and spend the entire weekend out there.”

At Mount Mora Cemetery the day before the eclipse, there will be a shorter version of Voices of the Past related to astronomy.

Other events and activities over that weekend will be held at the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion, the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, the Remington Nature Center, the East Hills Shopping Center, Rolling Hills Library and more.

For more information and a full list of events click here.