For those lucky enough to witness the one and only total solar eclipse of 2016, the event was breathtaking. But it was Mike Kentrianakis and nearly a dozen other eclipse-chasers that arguably had the best view possible as they soaked in the experience while on a flight from Anchorage to Honolulu (along with more than a hundred other passengers).
Joe Rao, an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, realized about a year ago that Alaska Airlines Flight 870 would intersect the darkest shadow of the moon as it passes over the Earth - a phenomenon known as totality.
The only problem was that the flight was scheduled about 25 minutes too soon, thus missing the big reveal. Amazingly enough, the astronomer was able to talk the airline into adjusting the flight time so they'd be able to witness the eclipse at just the right time. How accommodating!
The video above comes courtesy of Kentrianakis and as you can hear, it was everything he hoped it would be (and probably more).
Group photo courtesy Alaska Airlines, thumbnail via Mike Kentrianakis