Watch Video: Total solar eclipse from 40,000 feet above America

America on Monday witnessed an once in a lifetime astronomical phenomenon, the total solar eclipse. Even since then shutterbugs, scientists, physicists and even astronauts aboard the International Space Station, have been sharing pictures and videos of the event. One such video made whilst on a plane has gone viral on social media.

The video tweeted by NASA’s Associate Administrator of Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen shows the shadow of the total solar eclipse moving over the American mainland at a speed of 1 mile per second. The video was captured from NASA Armstrong’s Flight Research Centre’s GIII aircraft, which was one of the 11 aircraft hovering at 25000 feet to capture the totality and conduct studies along the west coast of Oregon.

The video was retweeted 2,460 times and liked by 4,928 users on Twitter. The total solar eclipse that occurred after nearly a century was visible from Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and, South Carolina of US.

Another video captured by Alaska Airlines over the Pacific Ocean shows the eclipse in a time lapse. The airlines flew a selected few over the Pacific ocean giving them the closest experience of totality. The airline flew over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Depoe Bay, Oregon at the height of 40,000 feet to capture ‘The Great American Solar Eclipse.’

Monday’s total solar eclipse occurred 35 years after the US mainland experienced its last one.  India, which could not experience the rare phenomenon, will witness a total solar eclipse in 2034.