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 THE STORY BEHIND “108”

BY JON CARMICHAEL

“When I was 12 years old, I first learned there would be a total solar eclipse in the United States. For the next 20 years I thought about where I should be for it. I had an idea… I wondered, if I could get high enough, could I actually see the moon’s shadow moving across the Earth’s surface at 2,000mph? I decided that was it - that’s what I needed to do. I mapped out all of the commercial flight paths around the U.S. and compared them to the moon’s shadow path. I was pulling my hair out thinking it would be impossible, but I did find one flight that matched the moon’s shadow almost perfectly - it was Southwest Airlines flight #1368 departing from Portland, Oregon to St. Louis, Missouri.

I was terrified. I thought I might be making a huge mistake. If the flight isn’t timed perfectly, I could miss this once-in-a-lifetime moment I’d been looking forward to all my life. All odds were against me. On top of everything else, Southwest Airlines doesn’t have any assigned seating and I was in group C seat 18! I really needed a window seat, so I arrived at the airport with $600 in cash - I figured I’d come this far, so I should be ready to bribe someone for a window if that’s what it takes!

As luck would have it, the flight I chose happened to have three Southwest executives on board who flew out from their headquarters in Dallas to see the eclipse on the flight as well. With all my camera gear over my shoulders, I introduced myself to them, shared my story, and showed them some of my photography. They couldn’t believe that I had flown across the entire country on the off-chance that I might get a good shot from their flight. They ended up introducing me to the entire flight crew, gave me seat 1A and went above and beyond for me that day. The Captain even got out of the plane prior to departure and cleaned my window! I explained to him that I needed to get at least a 180 degree series of shots of the Earth, and asked if there was any chance he could turn the plane around during totality. I knew how absurd of an ask this was, but to my shock he actually got approval by the FAA on the fly, and did five 180-degree turns while under the moon’s shadow ensuring I got the shots I needed. I couldn’t believe what was happening.

Once back home in New York City, I went through the thousands of images that I’d quickly and nervously snapped during his flight and spent a full year processing it all into a giant photographic-mosaic. To my surprise, I discovered we’d flown over the Snake River during totality, which is the border of Oregon and Idaho.

I couldn’t believe it - I had the shape of two U.S. states for the ‘Great American Eclipse’ and the clearest weather I could’ve ever hoped for! It felt like fate.

This was one of the most united moments in American history. For one day, people came together as one, and the media was filled with positivity. To me, it’s very simple why: For a brief moment in time, everyone in America became an astronomer.

That’s what astronomy does, it humbles us and unites us. My wish is for this image to be accessible to everyone. I hope it can be a reminder of that uniting moment, that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves, and we need to take care of each other and our planet.”

Keep looking up!

Jon

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