A couple of knowledgable skywatchers, including a Camas High grad, will set the stage in public presentations this week for what is being called the Great American Eclipse.
On Aug. 21, the continental United States will experience its first total eclipse since 1979, and its first coast-to-coast eclipse since 1918.
The path of totality will start on the Oregon coast, and the eclipse will begin at 9:06 a.m. in the Vancouver area.
• Science communicator Ethan Siegel will discuss sights, safety and science of the eclipse at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Kiggins Theatre, 1011 Main St., Vancouver.
Siegel became a physics professor, and now is a professional science communicator — writing, speaking and blogging full-time. His first book, “Beyond The Galaxy” will be available; his second, “Treknology,” about the real-life science behind the technologies envisioned by “Star Trek,” is scheduled to come out in October.
His presentation is part of the Science on Tap series. (Beer and wine will be available, as well as snacks.) Advance tickets are $9; the suggested cover at the door, if seats are available, is $10.
• John Dvorak, who wrote about eclipses in “Mask of the Sun,” will preview the Aug. 21 eclipse at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Camas Public Library, 625 N.E. Fourth St., Camas.
The 1969 graduate of Camas High School will discuss what all the fuss is about, how to watch the eclipse safely and what viewers can actually expect to see.
Dvorak received his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Washington and his doctorate in planetary geophysics from the California Institute of Technology.
He worked for 16 years for the United States Geological Survey studying volcanoes, which included Mount St. Helens in 1980. He then spent 20 years operating a telescope at the top of Mauna Kea in the Hawaiian Islands.
