Eclipse-viewing party a success on Alaska Airlines flight

While millions of people got ready to watch today’s total solar eclipse from the ground, Alaska Airlines hosted an eclipse-viewing party in the air. Alaska’s charter Flight #9671 left Oregon’s Portland International Airport before 7:30 a.m. PT and headed west for two hours out over the Pacific Ocean. On board, astronomy enthusiasts, eclipse-chasers, a NASA astronaut, social media contest winners and other guests flying in the Boeing 737-900 were treated to a unique and early view of the total eclipse from 40,000 feet. Before entering the path of totality, Alaska Airlines pilots and invited on-board experts, including Evgenya Shkolnik, an astrophysics professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, meteorologist Joe Rao, and NASA Astronaut Michael Barratt explained to passengers the technical details involved with both the eclipse and the flight. They offered tips on what to look for as the plane entered the path of totality and gave passengers a count-down into and out of the path of totality. Witnessing the total eclipse from the plane was both “haunting and humbling” said Tanya Harrison, an astronomer-turned-planetary scientist at Arizona State University. “It shows you how much we depend on the sun and how easily something like a volcanic eruption or a nuclear winter could get in the way.” Over the past few months, astronomers worked closely with Alaska Airlines pilots to chart the best flight path to catch the eclipse and found that, for a variety of reason, heading out over the ocean would provide the ideal views.<br/>