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Millions of people are turning their gaze skywards in the hope of witnessing one of nature’s greatest spectacles, a rare total solar eclipse, as it sweeps over mainland Europe to briefly turn day into night.
The Moon is first expected to blot out the Sun, leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona, in Russia’s remote Arctic north, before parts of Greenland and Iceland are enveloped in the arc of its eerie shadow.
Excitement is highest in Spain, where tourists thronged the streets of normally quiet villages to experience the dramatic natural phenomenon as the eclipse’s narrow path cuts across the Iberian Peninsula from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.
Mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.
Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1433.
Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand as a partial eclipse will be visible for millions more in most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa.
However, a total eclipse of the Sun is expected to only be visible in a handful of places.
Reykjavik, Iceland at around 17:48 local time
León, Spain at around 20:28 local time
Zaragoza, Spain at around 20:29 local time
And Valencia, Spain at around 20:32 local time
Fleeting
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 fleeting: in parts of Russia and Greenland, the total eclipse will last under two-and-a-half minutes.
For observers in Spain, it will last less than two minutes just before sunset.
The partial eclipse, which occurs as the Moon starts and finishes crossing the Sun’s path, dimming its light, will last around one hour and 45 minutes.
The event, to be livestreamed by both NASA and the European Space Agency, presents 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.
Weather
Weather, especially clouds, is the enemy of eclipse-chasers and forecast rain could spoil the occasion in the Westfjords region of northwest Iceland.
Scientist and astronomer Saevar Helgi Bragason said he felt “both excitement and heartbreak” because of the unfavourable weather forecast.
“It’s almost like I’ve lost someone,” he told the AFP news agency in Reykjavik.
But he said he hoped the skies would clear just long enough so he could see “the shortest, most sudden, most beautiful, most unique and, hopefully, most memorable and beautiful nighttime of our life” from his home.
No such problems are expected in Spain, however, with clear skies forecast, although there are concerns due to high temperatures of more than 35C and the continued risk of wildfires.
Eclipse fever has gripped Spain, with government predictions that the more than 446,000 extra tourists could bring a €347-million boost to the economy.
“The path of totality is very narrow. It’s only a couple of hundred kilometres wide,” British astrophysicist and science communicator Graham Jones told AFP Tuesday from Fontanil de los Oteros in northern Spain.
“That’s what’s so special about Spain. The path of totality really goes across the Spanish peninsula.”
Another total eclipse will cross southern Spain and northern Africa in August 2027, while an annular eclipse, when the Moon is not big enough to completely blot out the Sun, creating a so-called “ring of fire,” is due to visit the Iberian Peninsula in 2028.
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