BYU-Idaho and Rexburg eclipse preparations
Brigham Young University – Idaho and the city of Rexburg are gearing up in a big way for the August 21 eclipse. Rexburg is a prime spot because it has one of the longer total eclipse durations at two minutes and 17 seconds. Both the university and city have plans on how to host the onslaught of visitors.
“Every green area is going to be filled with people watching the solar eclipse on campus,” Brett Crandall with BYU-Idaho Media Relations said.
BYU-Idaho began getting requests over a year ago from people and groups who wanted to reserve space to watch the event here.
“So we’re expecting about 6,000 visitors here on campus to view the solar eclipse,” Crandall said. “That’s going to be 500 groups from areas all over the world. We have people Australia, Belgium, as far as Taiwan coming to Rexburg to view the eclipse on the BYU-Idaho campus.”
Some astronomer societies will set up solar telescopes like this to watch the event.
BYUI Physics Department Chair Steve McNeil puts into perspective why this eclipse is such a big deal.
“In Rexburg the last time it happened was in 1889 – a total solar eclipse passing over Rexburg,” McNeil said. “Not much was written about it. The next one won’t be for over 200 years, so if you’re not much of a traveler, this is your one chance to actually see totality.”
A physics department web page explains Eclipse projects McNeil is working with his students and other universities from as far away as MIT, including launching a balloon into the stratosphere to gather data during the event.
The Saturday before the eclipse, there are all kinds of presentations on campus about the eclipse, from planetarium shows to a kids activity explaining phases of the moon using Oreo cookies.
With most students gone for the summer, the university approved housing is renting space for eclipse visitors to stay.
The city of Rexburg is also putting out the welcome mat, with entertainment planned at Porter Park as people wait for the eclipse. The city is also providing viewing and camping spots next to Rexburg Rapids at Riverside Park.
“We just feel like it’s an opportunity to show off Rexburg and show people what we have here,” Rexburg Mayor Jerry Merrill said. “It’s a great little town and we want to show people we’re open for business and open for hospitality to welcome people to Rexburg.”
Mayor Merrill said the city is somewhat used to having a big influx of people when 20,000 students arrive at once for the start of the semester at BYU-Idaho, but they’re preparing for at least triple that amount.
“We’ve got extra police on duty, we’ve got firefighters and EMT on duty that weekend,” Merrill said. We’ve got all our city hall employees we plan on staffing in the parks, so we can help people get around and know where things are.”
An amazing amount of work and preparation in Rexburg and at BYU-Idaho for an event that will only last about two minutes.
Here are some website with details on Rexburg and BYUI plans for the eclipse.
http://www.byui.edu/eclipse-2017
http://www.byui.edu/physics/resources/majors/student-eclipse-projects
www.rexburgeclipse.com
