Now Reading: Rare total solar eclipse sweeps Europe, turns day into dark
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Rare total solar eclipse sweeps Europe, turns day into dark
A rare total solar eclipse swept across parts of Europe on August 12, briefly turning daylight into darkness for millions of skywatchers. The path of totality stretched through Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia,…
The Story in Brief
A rare total solar eclipse swept across parts of Europe on August 12, briefly turning daylight into darkness for millions of skywatchers. The path of totality stretched through Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and a small part of Portugal, according to reports.
In Spain, this was the first total eclipse visible from mainland since 1905. Large crowds gathered along the coast and in the Balearic Islands. Iceland experienced totality in its western and northwestern regions, though cloudy weather affected visibility. The UK and France saw a deep partial eclipse, with about 90 per cent of the Sun covered in parts of England. India missed the event entirely as the visibility zone did not extend there.
The Indian Opinion
Claims that this eclipse was "the first in Europe since 1999" ignore that several partial and annular eclipses have occurred since. The event was special for Spain, which had not seen totality since 1905, but not for the entire continent. Also, headlines calling it rare overlook that total eclipses happen somewhere on Earth every 18 months. The next total eclipse on August 2, 2027 will cross southern Spain again, that will test whether this year's crowds return or the hype fades.
Sources (2): timesnownews.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
