MADRID — Much of Europe have enjoyed their most dramatic solar eclipse for nearly 30 years, with millions thought to have witnessed the once-in-a-generation event.
Those watching the astronomical phenomenon from the UK on Wednesday were treated to a partial eclipse, which peaked shortly after 19:00 BST, when most saw more than 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon.
But parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain experienced the complete darkness and spectacle of a total eclipse.
The path of the total eclipse began at the northern tip of Siberia in Russia, far away from crowds and telescopes.
But it soon began curving around the Arctic Ocean arriving in Iceland in the early evening before sweeping southwards to treat the UK to part of its wonder.
Day briefly turned to night in Spain, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century on Wednesday, plunging it into eerie darkness in one of nature’s greatest spectacles.
The spectral glow of the Sun’s outer corona, shimmering out of the edges of the shadowy Moon, drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia.
The eclipse, a first in mainland Europe since 2006, also cast its shadow through parts of Greenland, racing south to smother Keflavík, some 50km from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, before arcing across the Atlantic Ocean towards northern Spain.
In Spain, the lunar shadow moved diagonally in a narrow path from the northern coast to the Balearic Islands, where tourists and locals gathered to watch on the beach, many dressed in swimming costumes accessorised with protective glasses.
“Spectacular, very beautiful, truly a unique moment,” said Rosa Maria Zamora, 72, who came to watch the eclipse in Colmenar Viejo, around 30km north of Madrid.
Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand, with huge crowds turning out to watch a partial eclipse across Europe, with the event also visible in Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa.
A partial eclipse began in parts of northern Spain shortly after 1930 CET, prompting gasps from waiting crowds and applause from South Korean tourists in a field in Lodoso, near the northern city of Burgos.
On the summit of the Pic du Midi, in the French Pyrenees, heavy clouds parted minutes beforehand, allowing visitors to see the spectacle, which also drew crowds in London, Paris and across the continent.
Earlier on Wednesday, a total eclipse plunged western Iceland into complete darkness, though heavy cloud cover and rain blocked the sight of the sun disappearing behind the moon.
Total darkness swept over Keflavík, some 50km southwest of the capital Reykjavik, at 5:47 pm local time, according reporters at the scene.
It was the first time the rare phenomenon was visible in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik since 1433 and attracted thousands of tourists and locals across the country.
Astronomer and popular scientist Saevar Helgi Bragason was among the most eager spectators.
He said he had been “waiting for this day for more than 10 years” after a partial solar eclipse over Iceland on 20 March 2015.
Speaking to the AFP news agency just before the event, he said he was filled with “excitement and heartbreak” because of the unfavorable weather forecast which predicted that clouds would obscure the view of the moon blocking out the sun.
“It’s almost like I’ve lost someone.”
The total eclipse lasted the longest over the cliffs of Latrabjarg in the westernmost part of Iceland, about 2 minutes and 13 seconds, while further south in the centre of Reykjavik it lasted for just over one minute.
Hotels in Reykjavik and the rest of Iceland were fully booked, with one hotel in the western village of Breidavik receiving its first booking for the event 14 years ago, according to national broadcaster RUV.
Throughout human history, eclipses have stirred amazement, fear and reverence, as they appear to momentarily halt the normal course of nature.
The shadow or “umbra” cast by the alignment of Sun and Moon creates a strange twilight during which temperatures drop, shadows appear at strange angles and some animals go to sleep.
But the phenomenon is generally fleeting: in parts of Russia and Greenland, the total eclipse lasted under two-and-a-half minutes.
The partial eclipse, which occurs as the Moon starts and finishes crossing the Sun’s path, dimming its light, was expected to last around one hour and 45 minutes.
The event, which was livestreamed by both NASA and the European Space Agency, presented scientists with a rare opportunity to study the Sun’s atmosphere and its outermost layer, as they seek to uncover secrets about solar winds and our star’s magnetic field.
Much of central and southern England and Wales enjoyed perfect clear skies giving them an unrivaled view as the Moon moved slowly across the Sun over the course of an hour.
Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland were cloudier, but it did not stop crowds turning out at famous landmarks across the country.
As time ticked by, slowly but surely the Moon obscured more of the Sun — acting like a dimmer switch as it did so.
As seen from the UK, the Sun, Moon and Earth were not quite directly in line.
The result was a partial eclipse, with the Moon covering about 90% of the Sun for most of the UK – the country’s most dramatic eclipse since 1999. In Cornwall, this was as high as 95%.
Crowds along the path of the total eclipse in Spain were treated to that rare event with the red glow of the Sun behind the Moon to go with it.
The light coming from the darkness was the Sun’s corona — superheated jets of gas thrown thousands of miles out into space.
And for those looking closely they may have seen small loops of pink gas called prominences following the Sun’s turbulent magnetic field.
The fact that we get to experience a total eclipse at all is an incredible cosmological coincidence.
The Sun is 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) away from the Earth — 400 times further away than the Moon.
But because the diameter of the Moon is 400 times less than the Sun’s, they appear exactly the same size in our sky. If the Moon was slightly smaller or its orbit was a little further away from the Earth then we would never see a total eclipse.
A total solar eclipse happens somewhere on Earth every 18 months or so. But they are much rarer for any given place, only occurring once in roughly 400 years.
We’re about to enter a “golden age” of total solar eclipses between 2026 and 2028. And eclipse chasers can travel around the world to be wowed by the spectacle of three total solar eclipses in the next couple of years.
It will be decades until the UK experiences a fuller solar eclipse than Wednesday.
That will be in 2081, where up to 99% of the Sun will be covered. And the UK’s next total solar eclipse will be in 2090.
Source: Saudi Gazette