Watchers wowed as moon blots out sun
Source: Agencies |
January 5, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WINTRY skies darkened over Switzerland yesterday morning, but Romanians were treated to a pinkish ethereal light and Swedes to a beautiful sunrise, as a partial solar eclipse that began over the Mideast extended across much of Europe.
In Switzerland, the pall of clouds and light snow seemed like dusk with lights twinkling in cities - time in reverse just as people streamed off trains and buses to arrive at work. The solar occurrence was at its height over Geneva, Bern and other Swiss cities in the midmorning, then the grayness at the lower altitudes began to brighten a bit.
As much as two-thirds of the sun slipped from view behind the moon, something that hasn't occurred in Switzerland since August 1999. A more minor eclipse happened in August 2008.
Clear skies over southern Romania offered a chance to glimpse a pale pink, otherworldly glow that spread over Bucharest, the capital. People climbed atop snow-coated high-rise buildings to get a better view, or donned sunglasses and huddled outside subway stations in Revolution Square. Some watched it -televised live; Romanians won't see their next eclipse until March 2015.
"This morning I saw a strange light," said Andrei Carlescu, a 21-year-old architecture student who was fascinated by the way the light dipped. "At first I didn't know what was happening."
The eclipse was first seen yesterday over Jerusalem, where the sun appeared to have lost a large part out of its upper-right section.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth, casting a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscuring the solar disk. During a partial solar eclipse, only part of the sun is blotted out.
Western Europe woke up to a sunrise eclipse. Astronomers expected the greatest eclipse over Sweden.
Polish viewers were treated to live television coverage of the eclipse from the southern city of Krakow, where the shadow of the moon could be observed gradually blotting out the sun.
A sunset eclipse was visible from central Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and parts of northwest China.
In Switzerland, the pall of clouds and light snow seemed like dusk with lights twinkling in cities - time in reverse just as people streamed off trains and buses to arrive at work. The solar occurrence was at its height over Geneva, Bern and other Swiss cities in the midmorning, then the grayness at the lower altitudes began to brighten a bit.
As much as two-thirds of the sun slipped from view behind the moon, something that hasn't occurred in Switzerland since August 1999. A more minor eclipse happened in August 2008.
Clear skies over southern Romania offered a chance to glimpse a pale pink, otherworldly glow that spread over Bucharest, the capital. People climbed atop snow-coated high-rise buildings to get a better view, or donned sunglasses and huddled outside subway stations in Revolution Square. Some watched it -televised live; Romanians won't see their next eclipse until March 2015.
"This morning I saw a strange light," said Andrei Carlescu, a 21-year-old architecture student who was fascinated by the way the light dipped. "At first I didn't know what was happening."
The eclipse was first seen yesterday over Jerusalem, where the sun appeared to have lost a large part out of its upper-right section.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon lines up between the sun and the Earth, casting a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscuring the solar disk. During a partial solar eclipse, only part of the sun is blotted out.
Western Europe woke up to a sunrise eclipse. Astronomers expected the greatest eclipse over Sweden.
Polish viewers were treated to live television coverage of the eclipse from the southern city of Krakow, where the shadow of the moon could be observed gradually blotting out the sun.
A sunset eclipse was visible from central Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and parts of northwest China.
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