(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) t was a sight to behold: millions of eyes were focused on the heavens on Friday for the 10th solar eclipse of the 21st century, said a UAE daily.
Hard-core eclipse buffs flew in from around the world to Denmark's far-flung Faroe Islands and Norway's Arctic Svalbard archipelago to observe the celestial phenomenon. People cheered and clapped as the moon blocked the sun for about 2.5 minutes under clear skies on the islands of Svalbard.
Total eclipses give certain spots their 15 minutes of fame. They occur when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, and the three bodies align precisely. Seeing light ring a huge dark circle after the eclipse is complete is simply remarkable.
The moon as seen from the Earth is just broad enough to cover the solar face, creating a breathtaking silver halo in an indigo sky pocked by daytime stars.
"Europeans got their first glimpse through cloudy skies in Spain's Canary Islands early in the morning," said The Gulf Today in its editorial on Sunday.
People adopted some interesting ways of viewing the eclipse. One group bought tickets aboard a chartered aircraft to watch the celestial phenomenon from the skies. One airline took pictures of the eclipse from a height of 37,000 feet.
In Svalbard, which is just emerging from four months of winter darkness, hotels were fully booked for years ahead of the event.
Its capital was engulfed in darkness shortly after the midmorning break for light refreshments. A few thousand adventurers paid whopping amounts to watch the less than three-minute spectacle.
About once a year, the moon aligns with the sun and blots out the centre of the solar system. The totality of this eclipse hit like a bolt to subject entire nature and mankind to a state of awe € and silence.
However, those who could not, for some reason whatsoever, watch this occurrence, there is welcome news: another solar eclipse is on the way, less than two years from now. On 21st August 2017 the first total eclipse will appear in the US.
According to a newspaper, the 2017 eclipse will create the biggest single movement of people for the purposes of tourism in human history. There is also another eclipse in Indonesia scheduled for next year.
However, viewing a solar eclipse is not without its hazards. Apart from wearing special glasses, in the Arctic archipelago, where everything is extreme, visitors must contend with temperatures as low as -20 degrees C. And then there's the threat of roaming polar bears. A Czech tourist was lightly injured in a polar bear attack on Thursday.
The sun was 97 percent hidden in Reykjavik, 93 percent in Edinburgh, 84 percent in London and 78 percent in Paris.
The next total solar eclipse visible from Europe is not due until August 12th, 2026.
"The small audience on Friday contrasted with tens of millions of people who saw the last major eclipse in Europe in 1999. It all goes to show that, whatever may be the turnout for this event, the elements € including the skies € still continue to hold their fascination, perhaps till eternity," the paper concluded.
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