The upcoming eclipse
 

Anyone out there an astronomy buff? I'll be flying SFO-LHR on the night of Feb. 20 and it looks like the total eclipse should be going on during the flight. Anyone had any experience looking at the moon on a flight or have any idea which side of the plane would give one a view of the moon?

What time is the flight?

You're going to want to be on the right-hand side of the aircraft. But, depending upon the time and the specific direction of travel of the plane, you may or may not be able to get a good view of it from the plane.

The cabin crew will have an excellent view, I'm sure.

I'm excited, going to Abu Dhabi to catch the show (since apparently it won't be as nicely viewed in Dubai)! :)

Why will it not be as nice in Dubai??? Does Dubai tend to be cloudier than Abu Dhabi? That's about the only reason I can think of.

Be prepared to wake up pretty early. You won't be able to see most of it from the United Arab Emirates, 3timesalady. Just before dawn you'll see the Moon enter the Earth's shadow, but the Sun will have risen and the Moon will have set by the time it hits the mid-point of the eclipse.

Flight leaves SFO at 16:15. Sounds like one needs to be east of the Rockies to get the totality. So absent any delays I'm hoping we may make it.

Sounds like it'll work out! (Though I won't swear to it. ;)). Be sure to be on the right side of the airplane, as tha should give you a view towards the southeast, which is where you'll want to look (the left side of the plane will not work).

The only problem that I can foresee is if the Moon has risen too high. It's difficult to see things from an airplane window that are too high in the sky without a lot of squirming.

Good luck! Post back if you get a good view of it.

The total eclipse starts at 7:01 pm PST and lasts 50 minutes. You don't have to be east of the Rockies. Moving east will make the eclipse higher in the sky. You still get totality on the west coast.

I suggest keeping your watch set to PST. It will happen at 7:01 pm PST regardless of what time zone you are actually in.

edit: I deleted an incorrect statement. The sun sets at 5:54 pm in San Francisco. Therefore the sky will be dark when the total eclipse starts.

I'll be flying from Detroit, Michigan, USA to Amsterdam on the night of the 20th. We leave Detroit at 7pm EST, so will be in the air for about 3 hours before the Eclipse is to happen. If it is in the south east as you all say it is, I'll try to get a seat on the right side of the plane as well so that I can have the possibility of seeing it. :) What a great Thread, as I was just talking to some people about this. Thanks for bringing it up.

Sure!

And, welcome to FlyerTalk! ^

NASA link
 

Here's a link that will tell you everything you might want to know: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov - click on 'Mr. Eclipse' link to see if your flight's time and path coincide w/the event.