Anchorage-Honolulu flight delayed for 25 minutes to please the Umbrails on board

Among the many varieties of geeks, there is one rare species - eclipse geeks (eclipse geeks). Another self-name is Umbrazil. The Latin word "umbra" means "shadow", and I think the meaning of the Greek word "φιλία" does not need anyone to explain. But these comrades anyway what a shadow does not fit. They prefer exclusively the shadow of the moon falling on the Earth during a total solar eclipse. These desperate guys travel around the world in pursuit of total solar eclipses, trying not to miss a single one. Some honored veterans have already seen more than a dozen eclipses in their lifetime, and are not going to stop there.

Joe Rao is an experienced eclipse hunter and employee of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Also heconducts a weather forecast on News 12 channel . Almost immediately after a successful trip to last year's eclipse on March 20, he began to prepare for the next one, which was to take place ( and has already taken place ) on March 9, 2016. An eclipse began over the Indian Ocean, then a lunar shadow was supposed to cross Indonesia, several small islands in Micronesia, and move north-east farther into the Pacific Ocean. On the islands at this time of year is the rainy season. The risk of driving half the world and seeing only the clouds was great.

Joe decided to analyze the routes and schedule of passenger flights along the moonlight trail. He discovered that Alaska Airlines flight 870, Anchorage-Honolulu, could have flown through a moon shadow if it had been delayed for 25 minutes.

Since it was not possible to rush the moon, Joe decided to contact the airline and asked to adjust the flight plan. The airline did not miss such a chance for PR and the opportunity to sell more tickets to the first class. As soon as Joe found out about the positive decision, he immediately shared the good news with like-minded people. As a result, on March 8, a dozen Umbrafilov gathered at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska (due to the date line, the eclipse began on March 9th for Asians, and ended on the 8th for Americans). All had tickets on the starboard side window for a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii.



In the photo, Joe Rao (fifth from left) and other eclipse enthusiasts pose against the backdrop of a “happy flag”. This flag belongs to Craig Small, a former colleague of Joe, and now a pensioner who has already seen 30 total solar eclipses. Since 1973, he has taken this flag with him on every expedition, and claims that with this talisman he has not yet lost a single eclipse observation. In the photo, he is fourth on the right (with a camera in his hands).

The flight plan was adjusted for the upcoming interception of the eclipse, and the portholes on the starboard side were cleaned.



One and a half hundred people flying the same flight to Honolulu did not even know what show they were going to and what was the reason for the delay in departure. Dan McGlone (second from the left in the group photo), who was about to watch the eclipse for the 12th time, took with him two hundred glasses with filters and handed out to all passengers. The interception of the eclipse was supposed to take place 1100 kilometers north of Honolulu. A few minutes before the start of the full phase, the cabin began to gradually darken as the waning crescent moon faded away, just like before the curtain was opened in the theater. The calculation was accurate, the plane was at the right time in the right place:















Mike Kentrianakis (fourth from left in the group photo), director of the project for observing solar eclipses of the American Astronomical Society, shot a view from the airplane window on video. This video has already collected a million views on YouTube. Better to watch without sound, the Americans behind the scenes are very emotional.



The impression of an eclipse from a great height is significantly different from what you get standing on the ground. The video clearly shows how a huge spot of the moon’s shadow is approaching from the west across the plane. At that time, the plane flew south at an altitude of 10,700 meters at a speed of 805 km / h. The spot size was 110x805 km and its speed was 13000 km / h. Passengers on Flight 870 were the last spectators of this solar eclipse. The end of the cone of the moon’s shadow ran about another thousand kilometers through the clouds over the ocean and slipped into space, not reaching the American coast. Interestingly, this is not the first time that an airline has delayed a flight at the initiative of Joe. In 1990, the Honolulu – San Francisco flight was delayed for 49 minutes for the same reason — so that passengers could see the eclipse .









Next year, Americans are preparing for the “Great American Eclipse” on August 21, 2017 . A lunar shadow will run across the mainland of the United States, from the west coast to the east, from west to east, from coast to coast . Of course, this time a grand sky show will bring together a much larger number of spectators.



It is symbolic that the route of flight 870 ran from the 49th state to the 50th, and the flight was like a rehearsal of the "great American eclipse." Mike Kentrianakis called their flight "an almost great American eclipse."

PS: The article was written based on an airline blog post: Chasing the shadow of the moon: To intercept eclipse, Alaska Airlines adjusts flight plan to delight astronomers. At first I wanted to make a full translation, but I got tired of raking the endless laudatory praises addressed to the airline. As a result, he outlined the main points and added a moderate amount of gag, as well as some information from other sources. Comments on errors and inaccuracies are strongly appreciated. It’s not at all necessary to write in PM, as it is supposedly accepted here according to the version of marks and other “editors”.