The total solar eclipse that will pass through Oregon is just less than a year away, but preparations are already underway for the big event.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is now jumping on board, selling tickets for its solar eclipse viewing party at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem.

The event will start at 6 a.m. on the day of the eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at the L.B. Day Amphitheatre at the fairgrounds. From that location, viewers will see nearly two minutes of totality just after 10:17 a.m.

Lectures and speeches about the event will fill the time in between.

OMSI will sell 8,000 tickets priced at $8 for adults and $6 for kids and seniors. Parking on site is available for $5 per vehicle, with limited space for RVs.

Given the popularity of the eclipse so far, it should be a popular event.

Hotels within the path of totality - a 90-mile-wide band where the total eclipse will be visible - have been sold out for years. There are plenty of National Forest and state campgrounds in that path as well, but those reservations don't go online until later this year.

Unless you were around for 1979 eclipse, this will likely be your one and only opportunity to ever see a total solar eclipse in Oregon. The next one crosses our state on October 5, 2108, when a small sliver of the Oregon coast will experience the tail end of the event, and July 25, 2169, when the path of totality will include Portland and the northeast part of the state.

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OMSI SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWING PARTY

When: Monday, Aug. 21, 2017

Where: Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem (map it)

Tickets: $8 for adults, $6 for kids and seniors

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB