Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse

MADRID -- It was almost as if the sun rose, then changed its mind and decided to go back down just a few minutes later.

A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the continent from getting a clear view of the moon covering part of the sun. The Middle East got better views.

Clouds and light snow obscured the view in Geneva, where the eclipse was at its height at midmorning, with as much as two-thirds of the sun disappearing behind the moon. That much of a solar eclipse hasn't happened in Switzerland since August 1999, The Associated Press reported.

European Clouds Hamper Views of Partial Solar Eclipse

Anders Wiklund, AFP / Getty Images

This morning's partial solar eclipse is seen through clouds over Stockholm.

Here in Spain, cloudy skies blocked views of the eclipse from the capital city of Madrid, but an astronomy laboratory in Barcelona captured stunning images of the event during sunrise, with the moon covering the top half of the orange sun, just above the horizon.

A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting its shadow over our planet and preventing us from seeing part of the sun. In a partial eclipse, the moon covers only part of the sun.

Experts caution viewers not to look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse, as its brightness can damage eyes, especially those of children. People often wear 3-D-like glasses, yielding scenes from around the world of crowds of people in funny glasses all staring skyward in unison.

Twitter has been abuzz with early-morning comments about today's eclipse, with one sky-gazer in Almeria, Spain, writing, "I almost went blind watching the eclipse of the sun!" A blogger in Cadiz linked to her photos of the eclipse taken at dawn, with the diminished sun reflected in the ocean, "like a mirror reflecting the saying 'on earth as in heaven,'" she wrote poetically.

Sponsored Links

Others used the micro-blogging site to vent their frustrations at not being able to see the eclipse at all because of the weather. "I don't need the moon for a solar eclipse. I live in England, and so have the clouds to do that job for me. Every flipping time. Heck," wrote one frustrated sky-gazer.

In Pakistan, where today's more than four-hour eclipse began before noon, religious scholars said that the event had spiritual value for Muslims and that additional prayers during the eclipse are optional, the country's Express Tribune newspaper reported. It quoted Muslim scholar Khalid Zaheer as saying the eclipse is a sign from God.

The next total solar eclipse will be in November 2013, over the South Pacific.