Totality! Astronomer’s Reaction to Solar Eclipse Takes In-flight Entertainment to Another Level
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On Tuesday, Alaska Airlines diverted its flight path to give its passengers a rare chance to watch a solar eclipse from an airplane.
The plan had been in the works for about a year after Joseph Rao, associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, noticed that his upcoming Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Honolulu would miss the the solar eclipse’s “path of totality” (the darkest shadow of the moon) by a mere 25 minutes. He called the airline and they agreed to move the flight path.
Rao was joined on the flight by a group of astronomers, including Mike Kentrianakis who captured the video below from seat 6F. In his reaction, reminiscent of Paul “Bear” Vasquez of double-rainbow fame, Kentrianakis is overcome by wonder as the umbra of the moon falls across the surface of the Earth: “Oh my God. It’s coming. The moon’s shadow is coming!” he exclaims.”I got corona! There it is! Look at that! Totality!”
“We recognize our customer’s passions,” said Chase Craig, director of Onboard Brand Experience, on the airline’s blog. “Certainly we can’t change flight plans for every interest, but this was a special moment, so we thought it was worth it. Now we have a plane full of customers who will be treated to a special occurrence.”
Watch the video below to enjoy a plane full of astronomers and self-proclaimed “umbraphiles” (or, “eclipse geeks”) witness the solar eclipse.