Eclipse expert Mike Kentrianakis captured this video from a Alaska Airline flight 870 from Anchorage to Honolulu. The flight made a planned diversion to intercept the path of the eclipse in the Pacific just north of Hawaii. From this vantage point, with a clear view of the horizon and well above the clouds, it’s easy to see the Moon’s shadow approaching like a storm from a great distance and at a speed of more than 1,200 mph. During totality, the Sun’s chromosphere and corona become visible, with prominences, streamers, and the usual display of the diamond-ring effect and Baily’s Beads just as the eclipse begins and ends.
You might want to turn down the volume a little as you watch this video. Mike himself admitted to getting a little too excited during this event. Though to be fair, even professional astronomers and experienced eclipse watchers strain to maintain a sense of cool during a total solar eclipse. It is a wonderful and appalling sight.
The next total solar eclipse arrives on August 21, 2017. It will be visible from the continental U.S. in a narrow band from Oregon to South Carolina.
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