GLASSBORO, NJ (CBS) — When it comes to the buildup for Monday’s solar eclipse few have had more to do than Amy Barraclough director of Rowan University’s Edelman Planetarium.

She has been guest lecturing for months on solar eclipses and preparing for a big event Monday at the university to celebrate the eclipse, which has become a national obsession.

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“Eclipses are actually all not that rare, they happen about once a year on average but what’s rare about this one is that it’s in the US which has not happened for almost 40 years,” says Barraclough.

The Edelman Planetarium, which has a 40-foot dome screen and seats about a hundred people, is a great place to learn about astronomy year-round.

Monday Rowan expects to have more than a thousand people at their event.

They’ll be doing shows on eclipses in the planetarium starting at 12:30 p.m., kids activities and then the main event outside watching the solar eclipse at 2:45 p.m..

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Rowan will give out 1,000 eclipse glasses on a first come first serve basis.

Astronomers like Barraclough say they’re more than happy to welcome eclipse-lovers into new realms of learning.

“The eclipse opens up the conversation about other topics within astronomy too so it’s a great teaching tool for us,” says Barraclough.