Eclipse evangelist Mike Kentrianakis is spreading the word about the upcoming solar blackout that will race across the United States on Aug. 21. Eclipses are his life work.
Kentrianakis, an emissary for the American Astronomical Society, has witnessed 20 solar eclipses in 52 years, spending most of his life's savings to watch the event in which the moon passes between the Earth and sun, according to The Washington Post.
Kentrianakis saw his first eclipse at age 14 in Manitoba, Canada on Feb. 26, 1979. He said he borrowed $400 from his parents to travel there to see it after following his fascination of the phenomenon astronomy books from the library.
Kentriankis's excited voice could be heard in a video he recorded and posted by Alaska Airlines in 2016 during the total eclipse, which has now been viewed more than 2.3 million times on YouTube.
Alaska Airlines said in the YouTube caption that Flight 870 from Anchorage to Honolulu on March 8, 2016, was adjusted so the passengers, which included Kentrianakis, could see the solar eclipse from 35,000 feet.
"His excitement level is roughly that of a Carolina Panthers fan who finds himself in line behind Cam Newton at Chipotle," said Quartz.com about Kentrianakis.
Kentrianakis told the Post he waited nearly a lifetime for the upcoming total solar eclipse, the first over the continental United States since 1979, when he first read about it in NASA's 50-year Solar Eclipse Canon.
"It unlocks you," he said about viewing eclipses. "I don't know why. It is so visceral. It is the meaning of the word awe, awe-struck."
"I wish I could describe it in a normal fashion. If I could give the magic words . . . if I say the right thing, I can get them to go," he continued.
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