On Monday, parts of North America will be treated to a total eclipse of the sun, while the rest of the continent gets to see a partial eclipse of the sun.

The 120-mile-wide path of totality will cross or touch 15 US states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. According to Astronomy.com, half of the population of the United States lives within 250 miles of the path of totality, potentially making this eclipse the most widely viewed total eclipse of the sun in all of human history.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun and casts its shadow down on the Earth. It is one of the most amazing coincidences in nature that the sun and moon appear to us to be nearly the same angular size in the sky.

The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther from Earth, so the two appear to be the same size. Due to the moon’s elliptical orbit around the Earth, it sometimes appears just slightly smaller than the sun and other times just slightly larger than the sun. If the two happen to cross paths while the moon appears slightly larger than the sun, we experience a total blockage of the sun’s brilliant face: a total eclipse of the sun.

I can tell you from personal experience that witnessing a total eclipse of the sun is one of the most awesome natural events that you will ever see. There is something strangely frightening about watching the sun — the life-giving source of Earth’s light and heat — getting devoured by a black orb and being replaced by an unspeakably beautiful crown with pink flames leaping into space against a starry background. It only lasts for a few minutes at most, but the vision stays with you. Tens of millions of people will be traveling into the total eclipse zone Monday to experience this very thing.

Colorado is not in the path of totality for this eclipse, but it will still catch the penumbral shadow of the moon, creating a partial eclipse of the sun. Depending on which corner of the state you live in, you will see anywhere from 54% to 78% of the sun covered by the moon. This is not enough to bring out the fantastic features of a total eclipse. In fact, in Colorado, at no point during this eclipse is it safe to look directly at the sun without approved solar eclipse glasses.

If you do not have solar glasses, the best way to watch this eclipse will be to project its image onto a white card using a pinhole in a piece of paper. Anything with a small hole in it will project an image of the sun onto a white card. For multiple solar images, try holding a kitchen colander in the sunlight over a white card. If there are any leaves on the trees, the overlapping leaves create hundreds of pinhole images of the sun on the ground beneath the tree.

For Steamboat Springs, the partial eclipse will begin at 11:38 a.m. Monday morning, reach a maximum of 59% at 12:38 p.m. and end at 1:50 p.m., according to TimeAndDate.com.

Accommodations in the eclipse zone have been booked full for months, and at shockingly high prices. I called an RV park in Kerrville, Texas, a year ago and they wanted $600 per night for a site with a minimum of four nights. I opted for an Air B&B in Carbondale, Illinois, for $1,000 a night. 

Folks living in Carbondale, Illinois, are poised to see the second total solar eclipse in just six years pass right over them. The 2017 and 2024 eclipse paths form an X right over Carbondale. Since the average time interval between total eclipses seen in the same location is 365 years, they really beat the odds.

It’s worth pointing out that planet Earth is the only planet in our solar system where a total solar eclipse can be enjoyed. Mercury and Venus have no moons to eclipse the sun, and Mars’ two moons are much too small to blot out the sun. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have moons, but no surface on which to stand and watch an eclipse. Finally, little Pluto and its moons lie so far away from the sun that it appears as only a bright point of light, not a luminous ball.

The next total solar eclipse visible from the USA will be on March 30, 2033, but you will need to be in far northern Alaska to see that one. Another total eclipse on August 23, 2044, will be visible at sunset from Montana and North Dakota only. The next big one for the USA will happen on August 12, 2045. It will sweep across the country from coast to coast, including Colorado, and will last for an amazing six minutes. You might want to stick around for that one.

Jimmy Westlake is adjunct professor of Physical Sciences at Colorado Mountain College and former director of the Rollins Planetarium at Young Harris College in Georgia and the St. Charles Parish Library Planetarium in Luling, Louisiana. For more, JWestlake.com.