by Ryan Kunz   We know exactly where you ought to be this August—feasting your eyes upon the year’s best sight you can’t directly feast your eyes upon. 

On Monday, August 21, 2017, the moon will pass in front of the sun, covering the sun for a very short time. This is called a total solar eclipse. There’s a total solar eclipse every few years or so somewhere on the Earth. However, the area where it’s viewable—called the path of totality—is relatively narrow (about 70 miles wide), so the last time you could see a total eclipse in the United States was 1991, and that was just Hawaii. Before that, it was 1979 (and only in the northwest part of the country). Basically, the last time a total eclipse of the sun happened anywhere near the contiguous United States, disco was a thing, Jimmy Carter was President, and Roger Moore was still playing James Bond. (There was a total eclipse of the heart in 1983, but that was something totally different.)

And because the universe apparently has a soft spot for Jackson’s tourism industry, Jackson Hole falls smack dab in the middle of the path of totality. With Wyoming’s low light pollution, there’s probably no better place to see the eclipse. 

This is important, though—DO NOT look directly at it. Even though there’s something right in front of the sun, there’s still a fully functioning, glowy ball of superheated hydrogen floating out there that wants to fry your eyeballs. So, again, don’t look at the sun if you like seeing things. Instead, invest in a pair of handy eclipse glasses. (Sunglasses aren’t enough. Sorry, your Ray-Bans can’t repel firepower of that magnitude.)

If you’re outside the path of totality, you can still glimpse the eclipse, but it will only a be a partial solar eclipse. You don’t want to be the guy talking about the partial eclipse on Facebook while all of your friends are going on about the total eclipse. You may as well be the guy who's still doing the Harlem Shake.

Estimates say all the places along the path of totality are going to be swelling with visitors, so book your stay now. And as luck would have it, because we are a motel, we happen to know a good place for you to stay in Jackson. 

Learn more about the eclipse here, including estimated times for the eclipse along various points of the path of totality. 

See you when the sun disappears! 

[caption id="attachment_1256" align="alignnone" width="480"] And you thought total eclipses were only in Bonnie Tyler songs.[/caption]   Ryan Kunz is a copywriter, blogger, and outdoor enthusiast who turned to a writing career after his parents told him his first choice for a career path, a Jedi Knight, was not a real thing.