Eclipse '98 brings fear, fascination to thousands

Courtesy Telecuracao

February 26, 1998
Web posted at: 11:39 p.m. EST (0439 GMT)

(CNN) -- The Western Hemisphere's last solar eclipse of the millennium brought fear and fascination to a slim arc in the Caribbean and South America on Thursday afternoon.

A total blackout lasted for about four minutes over the Galapagos Islands, parts of northern Colombia and Venezuela and into the Caribbean Sea. A partial eclipse lasted much longer, and was seen over a much wider area.

In Venezuela, pregnant women avoided looking at the moon-shadowed sun, fearing an eclipse can leave skin spots on unborn children.

The nation's Wayuu indigenous community said the moon and sun were making love, and should not be disturbed.

"There are plenty of very scared people out there," said local bishop Simon Alvarado. "They just want to stay indoors."

Alvarado said some indigenous groups believed dark forces were trying to extinguish the sun, a symbol of fertility.

At the Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas, New Age devotees formed a circle, closed their eyes and opened their palms in worship.

'This is great'

Full solar eclipse over Curacao
	1.2MB / 14 sec. / 240x180 561K / 14 sec. / 160x120 QuickTime movie

The event was the last solar eclipse visible in the Western Hemisphere until 2017.

In Haiti, a mayor's warning that people's eyes could burst if they looked at the sun during the eclipse set off a major panic. Some schools and shops closed, and frightened children ran home out of fear. Some parents thrust their children under beds to shield them from what they thought were harmful rays.

Looking at the sun during an eclipse can cause severe damage to your eyes. Throughout the Caribbean, government officials had spent weeks warning the public of the dangers, and educating people about safe ways to view the phenomenon.

"There's a lot of people who fear this eclipse," said Zaira Busby, 24, of the Curacao government's Solar Eclipse Committee. "But to me this is great. It's a once in a lifetime experience."

Eclipse attracts thousands

More then 300 scientists gathered in Maracaibo, capital of Zulia, a state bordering Colombia. Some of the scientists had come as far away as Russia, India and Japan. Some Japanese experts were reported to have booked their hotel rooms four years ago.

Amateur and professional astronomers converged at points throughout the region to set up equipment in hopes of a good viewing.

"If I get one picture -- just the corona and the stars and the planets -- that's all I want," said Stefan Dieters, 39, an astronomer at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

"All I need is the clouds to part, just once," said Francis Murphy, 35, of Pennsylvania, who made his first plane flight to see the eclipse.

"We're here to see what the animals do. Are the birds and the iguanas going to sleep? We want to see what happens," explained Oveida Palacio, 35, who was setting up an eclipse picnic at the site with her family from Curacao.

Observers said the sudden darkness prompted confused roosters to crow, and nocturnal animals to awaken.

Meanwhile, thousands of other observers partied on cruise ships to themes such as "voyage to totality."

Scientists Alan Hale and Tom Bopp, co-discoverers of the Hale-Bopp comet, gave a running commentary of the event on the Star Clipper, a four-masted sailing ship based in Antigua.

Total solar eclipses are not rare -- they occur about every 18 months -- but the path often falls on a remote area, making traveling to view them difficult and expensive.

Scientific interest was especially intense this time around, because the path of totality was so accessible.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Eclipse '98 lives up to expectations - February 26, 1998
• Scientists, Web watchers poised for eclipse '98 - February 25, 1998
• The View from Space: Big preps for solar eclipse - February 24, 1998

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• CNN Interactive Travel
• Live@The Exploratorium
• Live Eclipse '98
• NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center - Eclipse Home Page
• National Council for Geocosmic Research, Inc.
• Sky & Telescope
• Cape Canaveral/Caribbean Eclipse '98
• Solar eclipses 1996-2020
• NASA Eclipse Bulletin
• SKY Online's Eclipse Page
• COVESOL 98 : Venezuelan working committee for the Solar Eclipse' 98
• Total Solar Eclipse
• Earth View Eclipse Network
• QuickTime movies from the Polar Spacecraft's Visible Imaging System

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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