0:00:02.460,0:00:05.509
Before I get to bulk[br]of what I have to say,

0:00:05.533,0:00:09.093
I feel compelled just to mention[br]a couple of things about myself.

0:00:09.744,0:00:12.793
I am not some mystical,

0:00:12.817,0:00:14.655
spiritual sort of person.

0:00:15.668,0:00:17.696
I'm a science writer.

0:00:17.720,0:00:19.991
I studied physics in college.

0:00:20.015,0:00:22.977
I used to be a science[br]correspondent for NPR.

0:00:24.073,0:00:25.607
OK, that said:

0:00:26.552,0:00:29.791
in the course of working[br]on a story for NPR,

0:00:29.815,0:00:32.093
I got some advice from an astronomer

0:00:32.117,0:00:34.224
that challenged my outlook,

0:00:34.248,0:00:36.246
and frankly, changed my life.

0:00:37.192,0:00:39.384
You see, the story was about an eclipse,

0:00:39.408,0:00:43.952
a partial solar eclipse[br]that was set to cross the country

0:00:43.976,0:00:45.808
in May of 1994.

0:00:46.351,0:00:48.815
And the astronomer -- I interviewed him,

0:00:48.839,0:00:52.116
and he explained what was going to happen[br]and how to view it,

0:00:52.140,0:00:57.361
but he emphasized that, as interesting[br]as a partial solar eclipse is,

0:00:57.385,0:01:01.895
a much rarer total solar eclipse[br]is completely different.

0:01:02.499,0:01:05.773
In a total eclipse,[br]for all of two or three minutes,

0:01:05.797,0:01:09.128
the moon completely blocks[br]the face of the sun,

0:01:09.152,0:01:14.392
creating what he described[br]as the most awe-inspiring spectacle

0:01:14.416,0:01:15.812
in all of nature.

0:01:16.760,0:01:18.969
And so the advice he gave me was this:

0:01:20.087,0:01:23.084
"Before you die," he said,

0:01:23.108,0:01:27.385
"you owe it to yourself[br]to experience a total solar eclipse."

0:01:28.105,0:01:30.586
Well honestly,[br]I felt a little uncomfortable

0:01:30.610,0:01:33.018
hearing that from someone[br]I didn't know very well;

0:01:33.042,0:01:34.433
it felt sort of intimate.

0:01:34.457,0:01:38.188
But it got my attention,[br]and so I did some research.

0:01:39.005,0:01:41.052
Now the thing about total eclipses is,

0:01:41.076,0:01:43.462
if you wait for one to come to you,

0:01:43.486,0:01:46.878
you're going to be waiting a long time.

0:01:46.902,0:01:51.422
Any given point on earth[br]experiences a total eclipse

0:01:51.446,0:01:54.502
about once every 400 years.

0:01:55.424,0:01:58.926
But if you're willing to travel,[br]you don't have to wait that long.

0:01:58.950,0:02:03.267
And so I learned[br]that a few years later, in 1998,

0:02:03.291,0:02:06.078
a total eclipse was going[br]to cross the Caribbean.

0:02:07.201,0:02:10.730
Now, a total eclipse is visible[br]only along a narrow path,

0:02:10.754,0:02:12.434
about a hundred miles wide,

0:02:12.458,0:02:14.552
and that's where the moon's shadow falls.

0:02:14.576,0:02:16.707
It's called the "path of totality."

0:02:16.731,0:02:19.154
And in February 1998,

0:02:19.178,0:02:22.625
the path of totality[br]was going to cross Aruba.

0:02:22.649,0:02:26.965
So I talked to my husband,[br]and we thought: February? Aruba?

0:02:26.989,0:02:28.708
Sounded like a good idea anyway.

0:02:28.732,0:02:29.804
(Laughter)

0:02:29.828,0:02:32.463
So we headed south,

0:02:32.487,0:02:34.959
to enjoy the sun[br]and to see what would happen

0:02:34.983,0:02:36.798
when the sun briefly went away.

0:02:37.536,0:02:40.527
Well, the day of the eclipse[br]found us and many other people

0:02:40.551,0:02:42.732
out behind the Hyatt Regency,

0:02:42.756,0:02:43.919
on the beach,

0:02:43.943,0:02:45.654
waiting for the show to begin.

0:02:45.678,0:02:48.849
And we wore eclipse glasses[br]with cardboard frames

0:02:48.873,0:02:52.992
and really dark lenses that enabled us[br]to look at the sun safely.

0:02:53.967,0:02:58.202
A total eclipse begins[br]as a partial eclipse,

0:02:58.226,0:03:02.002
as the moon very slowly makes its way[br]in front of the sun.

0:03:02.026,0:03:06.254
So first it looked the sun[br]had a little notch in its edge,

0:03:06.278,0:03:09.399
and then that notch grew[br]larger and larger,

0:03:09.423,0:03:11.271
turning the sun into a crescent.

0:03:12.244,0:03:15.579
And it was all very interesting,[br]but I wouldn't say it was spectacular.

0:03:15.603,0:03:17.527
I mean, the day remained bright.

0:03:17.551,0:03:20.561
If I hadn't known[br]what was going on overhead,

0:03:20.585,0:03:22.998
I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.

0:03:24.052,0:03:28.862
Well, about 10 minutes before[br]the total solar eclipse was set to begin,

0:03:28.886,0:03:30.677
weird things started to happen.

0:03:31.934,0:03:33.790
A cool wind kicked up.

0:03:34.808,0:03:38.721
Daylight looked odd,[br]and shadows became very strange;

0:03:38.745,0:03:40.979
they looked bizarrely sharp,

0:03:41.003,0:03:44.794
as if someone had turned up[br]the contrast knob on the TV.

0:03:45.767,0:03:49.634
Then I looked offshore,[br]and I noticed running lights on boats,

0:03:49.658,0:03:52.221
so clearly it was getting dark,

0:03:52.245,0:03:53.831
although I hadn't realized it.

0:03:53.855,0:03:56.128
Well soon, it was obvious[br]it was getting dark.

0:03:56.152,0:03:58.296
It felt like my eyesight was failing.

0:03:59.186,0:04:00.960
And then all of a sudden,

0:04:00.984,0:04:02.348
the lights went out.

0:04:03.830,0:04:05.468
Well, at that,

0:04:05.492,0:04:08.109
a cheer erupted from the beach,

0:04:08.133,0:04:10.026
and I took off my eclipse glasses,

0:04:10.050,0:04:12.641
because at this point[br]during the total eclipse,

0:04:12.665,0:04:15.760
it was safe to look at the sun[br]with the naked eye.

0:04:16.365,0:04:18.181
And I glanced upward,

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and I was just dumbstruck.

0:04:25.541,0:04:30.278
Now, consider that, at this point,[br]I was in my mid-30s.

0:04:30.302,0:04:36.915
I had lived on earth long enough[br]to know what the sky looks like.

0:04:37.669,0:04:38.820
I mean --

0:04:38.844,0:04:39.926
(Laughter)

0:04:39.950,0:04:43.044
I'd seen blue skies and grey skies

0:04:43.068,0:04:47.009
and starry skies and angry skies

0:04:47.033,0:04:49.141
and pink skies at sunrise.

0:04:49.882,0:04:52.946
But here was a sky I had never seen.

0:04:54.317,0:04:56.593
First, there were the colors.

0:04:56.617,0:04:59.582
Up above, it was a deep purple-grey,

0:04:59.606,0:05:01.019
like twilight.

0:05:01.043,0:05:02.753
But on the horizon it was orange,

0:05:02.777,0:05:04.078
like sunset,

0:05:04.102,0:05:05.696
360 degrees.

0:05:06.426,0:05:09.068
And up above, in the twilight,

0:05:09.092,0:05:11.517
bright stars and planets had come out.

0:05:11.541,0:05:13.143
So there was Jupiter

0:05:13.167,0:05:14.903
and there was Mercury

0:05:14.927,0:05:16.200
and there was Venus.

0:05:17.090,0:05:19.105
They were all in a line.

0:05:20.528,0:05:23.482
And there, along this line,

0:05:24.288,0:05:26.754
was this thing,

0:05:26.778,0:05:30.302
this glorious, bewildering thing.

0:05:30.326,0:05:35.077
It looked like a wreath[br]woven from silvery thread,

0:05:35.101,0:05:38.295
and it just hung out there[br]in space, shimmering.

0:05:40.502,0:05:44.142
That was the sun's outer atmosphere,

0:05:44.166,0:05:45.975
the solar corona.

0:05:45.999,0:05:48.358
And pictures just don't do it justice.

0:05:48.382,0:05:52.915
It's not just a ring or halo[br]around the sun;

0:05:52.939,0:05:56.549
it's finely textured,[br]like it's made out of strands of silk.

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And although it looked[br]nothing like our sun,

0:06:00.288,0:06:02.542
of course, I knew that's what it was.

0:06:02.566,0:06:06.398
So there was the sun,[br]and there were the planets,

0:06:06.422,0:06:10.453
and I could see how the planets[br]revolve around the sun.

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It's like I had left our solar system

0:06:13.286,0:06:15.882
and was standing on some alien world,

0:06:15.906,0:06:17.671
looking back at creation.

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And for the first time in my life,

0:06:21.194,0:06:25.216
I just felt viscerally connected[br]to the universe

0:06:25.240,0:06:26.861
in all of its immensity.

0:06:28.107,0:06:29.615
Time stopped,

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or it just kind of felt nonexistent,

0:06:32.959,0:06:36.043
and what I beheld with my eyes --

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I didn't just see it,

0:06:38.435,0:06:40.182
it felt like a vision.

0:06:41.858,0:06:44.716
And I stood there in this nirvana

0:06:45.530,0:06:51.166
for all of 174 seconds --[br]less than three minutes --

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when all of a sudden, it was over.

0:06:53.597,0:06:54.948
The sun burst out,

0:06:54.972,0:06:56.634
the blue sky returned,

0:06:56.658,0:06:59.835
the stars and the planets[br]and the corona were gone.

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The world returned to normal.

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But I had changed.

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And that's how I became an umbraphile --

0:07:09.581,0:07:10.747
an eclipse chaser.

0:07:10.771,0:07:11.780
(Laughter)

0:07:11.804,0:07:16.474
So, this is how I spend my time[br]and hard-earned money.

0:07:16.998,0:07:22.627
Every couple of years, I head off[br]to wherever the moon's shadow will fall

0:07:22.651,0:07:25.041
to experience another couple minutes

0:07:25.065,0:07:26.525
of cosmic bliss,

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and to share the experience with others:

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with friends in Australia,

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with an entire city in Germany.

0:07:33.468,0:07:37.806
In 1999, in Munich,[br]I joined hundreds of thousands

0:07:37.830,0:07:42.591
who filled the streets and the rooftops[br]and cheered in unison

0:07:42.615,0:07:44.542
as the solar corona emerged.

0:07:45.719,0:07:47.935
And over time, I've become something else:

0:07:48.498,0:07:50.586
an eclipse evangelist.

0:07:51.116,0:07:52.956
I see it as my job

0:07:53.737,0:07:58.565
to pay forward the advice[br]that I received all those years ago.

0:07:59.369,0:08:01.398
And so let me tell you:

0:08:02.530,0:08:04.763
before you die,

0:08:04.787,0:08:09.765
you owe it to yourself[br]to experience a total solar eclipse.

0:08:09.789,0:08:13.670
It is the ultimate experience of awe.

0:08:14.781,0:08:19.364
Now, that word, "awesome,"[br]has grown so overused

0:08:19.388,0:08:21.552
that it's lost its original meaning.

0:08:21.576,0:08:26.055
True awe, a sense of wonder[br]and insignificance

0:08:26.079,0:08:28.610
in the face of something[br]enormous and grand,

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is rare in our lives.

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But when you experience it, it's powerful.

0:08:34.484,0:08:36.839
Awe dissolves the ego.

0:08:36.863,0:08:38.857
It makes us feel connected.

0:08:38.881,0:08:41.976
Indeed, it promotes[br]empathy and generosity.

0:08:42.920,0:08:47.595
Well, there is nothing truly more awesome[br]than a total solar eclipse.

0:08:48.497,0:08:50.882
Unfortunately, few Americans[br]have seen one,

0:08:50.906,0:08:53.126
because it's been 38 years

0:08:53.150,0:08:56.320
since one last touched[br]the continental United States

0:08:56.344,0:09:00.412
and 99 years since one last crossed[br]the breadth of the nation.

0:09:01.156,0:09:03.723
But that is about to change.

0:09:03.747,0:09:06.179
Over the next 35 years,

0:09:06.854,0:09:11.138
five total solar eclipses will visit[br]the continental United States,

0:09:11.162,0:09:14.298
and three of them[br]will be especially grand.

0:09:15.146,0:09:19.820
Six weeks from now, on August 21, 2017 --

0:09:19.844,0:09:22.523
(Applause)

0:09:22.547,0:09:26.633
the moon's shadow will race[br]from Oregon to South Carolina.

0:09:27.296,0:09:32.699
April 8, 2024, the moon's shadow[br]heads north from Texas to Maine.

0:09:32.723,0:09:34.895
In 2045, on August 12,

0:09:34.919,0:09:37.657
the path cuts from California to Florida.

0:09:39.458,0:09:40.704
I say:

0:09:41.673,0:09:44.264
What if we made these holidays?

0:09:44.288,0:09:45.494
What if we --

0:09:45.518,0:09:46.546
(Laughter)

0:09:46.570,0:09:50.252
(Applause)

0:09:50.276,0:09:55.333
What if we all stood together,

0:09:55.357,0:09:57.433
as many people as possible,

0:09:57.457,0:09:59.229
in the shadow of the moon?

0:09:59.253,0:10:05.093
Just maybe, this shared experience of awe[br]would help heal our divisions,

0:10:05.117,0:10:08.013
get us to treat each other[br]just a bit more humanely.

0:10:08.918,0:10:14.744
Now, admittedly, some folks consider[br]my evangelizing a little out there;

0:10:14.768,0:10:17.345
my obsession, eccentric.

0:10:17.992,0:10:22.872
I mean, why focus so much attention[br]on something so brief?

0:10:22.896,0:10:26.598
Why cross the globe --[br]or state lines, for that matter --

0:10:26.622,0:10:29.639
for something that lasts three minutes?

0:10:31.165,0:10:32.315
As I said:

0:10:32.906,0:10:35.114
I am not a spiritual person.

0:10:36.006,0:10:38.577
I don't believe in God.

0:10:38.601,0:10:39.909
I wish I did.

0:10:40.892,0:10:43.131
But when I think of my own mortality --

0:10:43.873,0:10:45.578
and I do, a lot --

0:10:46.971,0:10:50.551
when I think of everyone I have lost,

0:10:50.575,0:10:52.294
my mother in particular,

0:10:53.778,0:10:55.578
what soothes me

0:10:55.602,0:10:58.694
is that moment of awe I had in Aruba.

0:10:59.596,0:11:02.712
I picture myself on that beach,

0:11:02.736,0:11:04.172
looking at that sky,

0:11:05.037,0:11:07.209
and I remember how I felt.

0:11:08.661,0:11:11.273
My existence may be temporary,

0:11:11.978,0:11:14.485
but that's OK because, my gosh,

0:11:14.509,0:11:16.598
look at what I'm a part of.

0:11:18.214,0:11:20.343
And so this is a lesson I've learned,

0:11:20.367,0:11:22.930
and it's one that applies[br]to life in general:

0:11:23.800,0:11:28.205
duration of experience[br]does not equal impact.

0:11:28.229,0:11:32.731
One weekend, one conversation --[br]hell, one glance --

0:11:33.433,0:11:34.888
can change everything.

0:11:36.508,0:11:39.994
Cherish those moments[br]of deep connection with other people,

0:11:40.018,0:11:41.429
with the natural world,

0:11:41.453,0:11:43.192
and make them a priority.

0:11:43.216,0:11:45.630
Yes, I chase eclipses.

0:11:45.654,0:11:47.671
You might chase something else.

0:11:47.695,0:11:51.001
But it's not about the 174 seconds.

0:11:52.312,0:11:55.000
It's about how they change

0:11:55.024,0:11:56.591
the years that come after.

0:11:57.114,0:11:58.284
Thank you.

0:11:58.308,0:12:02.941
(Applause)