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Thousands gather to catch glimpse of annular eclipse

Thousands of people gathered across Portugal and Spain yesterday morning to catch a glimpse of something that hasn't happened here for more than 200 years: a rare and spectacular type of eclipse which began to dim the Iberian peninsula shortly before 10am.

In Madrid, families, teenagers with teachers and groups of enthusiasts met at the city's planetarium beneath a cloudless sky and donned protective eyeglasses to watch the eclipse directly or via a giant television screen.

A bite of the sun

Initially, from the Spanish capital, the eclipse could be seen taking a bite off the top of the sun.

"I didn't go to school today. I didn't want to miss the eclipse," said 12-year-old Ruben del Castillo, who was at the planetarium with his mother. "I studied it all this weekend. It's a ring round the sun."

Hundreds formed queues at the planetarium to get the last of the eyeglasses, which were distributed free of charge while a voice over a speaker described what was happening.

Television images showed large groups watching the eclipse all over Spain.

During the event, called an annular eclipse, the moon masks the sun like a black plate, leaving a bright, fiery rim.

The moon will be too small to blot out the sun completely, as in a total eclipse, because its elliptical orbit has taken it too far from the Earth.

However, scientists say the daylight will fade and temperatures will drop slightly as the eclipse travels along a narrow band girdling almost half the planet.

Rim of fire

The rim of fire that appears around the moon glows brighter than the corona that is seen during a total eclipse.

"Every eclipse is unique," Pere Planesas, astronomer of Spain's National Observatory. "It's an interesting phenomenon which shouldn't be missed by anyone."

The eclipse's three-and-a-half-hour path first traverses Portugal and Spain.

The Iberian peninsula hasn't witnessed an annular eclipse since April 1, 1764, and won't see another one until 2028.

The last total eclipse seen in Iberia was in 1912.

The eclipse's narrow corridor will also travel across mostly deserted parts of Africa, encompassing Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Outside that band, a partial eclipse will be visible through protective eyewear over most of Europe, the Middle East, India and a large chunk of Africa, though some cloud cover is forecast on that continent.

Authorities reminded the public to avoid looking at the sun without eye protection.

1 million glasses

In Spain, where the event has stirred keen anticipation, opticians sold close to 1 million sets of the glasses at US$3.70 each last week.

In Portugal, the General Directorate for Health distributed free glasses with daily papers.

The eclipse started over the North Atlantic at 0841GMT. It quickly tracked southeast, crossing the Iberian peninsula.

At 0856GMT, the eclipse was blanketing Madrid for 4 minutes, 11 seconds.

It then crosses the Mediterranean into North Africa, covering the Algerian capital, Algiers.

At 1031GMT central Sudan experiences the event's longest eclipse, lasting 4 minutes, 31 seconds.

The eclipse passes over the coast of southern Somalia at 1110GMT and concludes at sunset over the Indian Ocean at 1220GMT.
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