Millions watch century's last eclipse

The eclipsed sun peeks out from behind the moon over Diyabikar, Turkey
INTERACTIVE: Image gallery: Viewing the eclipse around the world Animated sequence of the eclipse over England Satellite image taken by the European EUMESTAT satellite showing the moon's shadow as it crosses over Western Europe Image gallery: Eclipse preparations around the world VIDEO: A view of the eclipse from Diyarbakir, Turkey Windows Media 28K 80K 2.3 M / 240x180 QuickTime movie Movie is accelerated three times normal speed Please enable Javascript CNN's Richard Blystone reports on the Druid celebration of the eclipse in Cornwall, England Windows Media 28K 80K  ALSO: Iraqi astronomers gather in Mosul to watch eclipse Satellite images: From EUMESTAT

August 11, 1999
Web posted at: 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT)

In this story: Gloomy views in England Germany awash in rain, beer Eclipse baby born in Austria Shadow lasts longest in Romania Stars come out in Iraq Monsoon clouds spoil view at Bangladesh Solar maximum enhanced event RELATED STORIES, SITES

CORNWALL, ENGLAND (CNN) -- Millions of viewers from Canada to Europe and Asia got anywhere from a partial to a full view Wednesday of the millennium's last total solar eclipse.

The event drew scientists and curious spectators worldwide. Hundreds of thousands gathered in Cornwall, England, where the full ecliptic shadow first hit land. Smaller clutches across Europe and Asia peered cautiously through protective glasses, pinhole reflectors and telescopes.

"What it really shows is our cosmic connectedness," American University astrophysicist Richard Berendzen said of the cultural phenomenon. "We happen to live in only planet in solar system that is privileged to have the moon the same angular size as the sun. In other words, it's the only one to have a eclipse of the sun."

Due to clear weather, clean air and the configuration of the solar system, the eclipse showed up best in the Middle East, but some gathered as far west as Nova Scotia to get a peek at the partial eclipse as it passed just after 5 a.m. EDT.

Clear skies gave Newfoundlanders a perfect view. About 300 people gathered on Signal Hill, on Canada's Atlantic coast, as the moon covered about 93 percent of the sun.

In effect, the early risers saw two sunrises as they gathered over coffee and sandwiches to watch the eclipse begin its journey across the Atlantic.

About 500 people gathered on Cadillac Mountain in Maine's Acadia National Park. They caught nearly 15 minutes of unobscured visibility -- and a brief appearance of a crescent-shaped sun.

Maine experienced an 80 percent eclipse, so it was one of the best places in the United States from which to view. Clouds overshadowed much of the event, though.

At the University of Southern Maine, in Portland, hundreds gathered at a planetarium for an all-night party featuring a laser show and eclipse-inspired presentations.

After the partial eclipse swept the tip of Canada, the full eclipse raced at 2,400 km/h (1,500 mph) across the Atlantic Ocean to Land's End on the southwestern edge of England. From there, it moved through parts of France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, turning day to night across a path 60 miles wide, before sinking at sunset in the Bay of Bengal.

Scientists gathered throughout Europe and Asia to learn more about the corona, the superheated gaseous layer that surrounds the sun. Seldom visible, it appears as a radiant halo at the time of totality, when the moon completely covers the sun.

In Cornwall, England, heavy clouds gave a gloomy cast to the two-minute spectacle.

Clouds over Cornwall, England, gave the eclipse an eerie look

"This is our first eclipse and we are kind of disappointed not to be seeing anything," said Carolyn Willard, from Kent, Washington. The eclipse reached totality in western England at 6:10 a.m. EDT -- 11:10 a.m. in Cornwall.

Darkness fell on London, where the eclipse was 96.5 percent of totality. Trials were adjourned briefly at the Old Baily criminal court to allow jurors and lawyers -- but not defendants -- to go out to watch.

Two hundred people boarded a Concorde flight at Heathrow, making a supersonic chase of the shadow from a cloud-free 55,000-foot height.

The Eiffel Tower was packed, with thousands of people on its base and hundreds more on the monument itself. As Paris reached its darkest stage, street lights came on and the tower was lit as if for night. Elsewhere in the city of high fashion, some were spotted wearing upscale designer viewing glasses.

In Rome, Pope John Paul II cut short his weekly audience with pilgrims, saying: "I know that some of you are in a hurry to see the eclipse of the sun."

The view of the total eclipse was blocked by heavy cloud cover in Stuttgart, Germany's self-proclaimed eclipse capital, on Wednesday.

What could have been a celestial celebration turned into just another rained-in beer festival for half a million people, who gathered to watch the celestial event.

Telescopes and cameras on tripods remained under their protective covering and the eclipse watchers put on a brave face with a glass of beer. Sky watchers peeked up beneath umbrellas and the hoods of rain parkas.

A pale sun had briefly broken through the cloud cover at around 1000 GMT, but its appearance was short-lived.

Nevertheless, cheers and shouts erupted from the crowds gathered in the Stuttgart's royal square as the city was briefly plunged into darkness at 1032 GMT.

The moon's shadow sped across southern Germany over towns and cities such as Saarbruecken, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Augsburg and Munich.

For many people, the day started with traffic jams tens as the eclipse tourists headed south in the hope of getting the best view. Motorway parking spaces and service stations were full and police said that just before total darkness many drivers simply pulled up on the hard shoulder to watch the spectacle.

In Berlin, where only 88 percent of the sun was covered by the moon, the flamingos in the zoo fell asleep thinking it was already dusk, said zoo director Peter Rahn.

Twenty million disposable eyeglasses were sold in Germany to enable the public to watch the eclipse safely.

A 24-year-old student suffered severe burns when he tried to climb an electricity pylon in Bad Bergzabern, hoping to get a better view of the eclipse.

An "eclipse baby" was born in Austria at exactly the moment the total eclipse passed across the south of the country, doctors said.

School children in Krefeld, Germany, watch the eclipse

A hospital in Feldbach, in the southern province of Styria, gave no details about the child.

The total eclipse passed across Austria for about 200 kilometers (120 miles), from Salzburg in the north down over Graz, in the southwest, but much of the "totality zone" was obscured by clouds.

Huge traffic jams built up in the morning around Vienna as the capital's residents rushed to get a better view of event.

In Sarajevo, streets were deserted in a scene reminiscent of the worst days of the Bosnian war. With special viewing glasses unavailable, most people stayed indoors.

Thousands crammed the streets of Ramnicu Valcea, the south-central city in Romania where the spectacle could be seen the longest -- 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Hundreds more made the trek to a half-dried up salt lake just outside the city, munching on barbecued prawns and steak as they prepared for an unimpeded view of the eclipse.

"We are a bit scared," said Silvia Popa, a 44-year old accountant, reflecting age-old Balkan superstitions connected with the sun's disappearance. "They say after an eclipse, there is either a storm or a cataclysm."

There was neither, as the moon ate its way into the sun, slowly obscuring it. But temperatures in the 30s Centigrade (high 80s Fahrenheit) dropped noticeably as the clear skies grew darker and the moon's shadow appeared.

Sharing the viewing with her and other Romanians at the lake were hundreds of tourists from Germany, Japan, Britain and other nations. Dozens of scientists from the United States, Britain and Japan gathered in Romania to get the longest view possible of the event, which presents a rare opportunity to study the sun's corona, or outer layer of gas.

In Ramnicu Valcea, a city of 100,000 dominated by gray concrete buildings, traffic was light, with most people opting for a view from sidewalks and from atop roofs.

Sky watchers gathered in the Iraqi town of Mosul atop a mountain near a third century monastery. They reported a spectacular view of the eclipse due in part to low air pollution in the country.

As the sun pulled behind the moon, winds rose up, the temperature dropped and many of those gathered began to pray. The sky became so dark that stars twinkled visibly in the sky.

The weather for the eclipse also was picture-perfect in Iran and Turkey. Iran was cast in shadow as the moon passed in front of the sun, with tourists gasping and vendors of protective glasses engaging in a last-minute bid to sell their wares.

Thousands of people watched in awe as darkness fell on the city in the middle of the day.

"It's total frenzy. It's jam-packed everywhere, on the main square and the two banks of the Zayandeh Rud river," said Pascale, a young French woman whose father is Iranian.

She came to the central Iranian city of Isfahan especially for the eclipse.

"It's impressive. People are running around searching for a pair of protective glasses and tents have been hastily set up to sell them," she said.

Thousands had come to Isfahan from countries as far away as Japan, Italy and France to see the eclipse.

Throughout the Middle East, many Muslims shuttered themselves inside on the orders of clerics. Others flocked to mosques as earthquakes and an out of season hailstorm intensified eclipse unease.

Monsoon clouds and the haze at dusk spoiled the sighting of the eclipse in Bangladesh. In some parts of capital Dhaka, large number of curious residents climbed roof tops with sunglasses and makeshift items to protect their eyes despite warnings the eclipse would only be partially visible due to monsoon clouds.

"It was all cloudy on the horizon and at one point the descending sun looked the same as usual," said a disappointed school student who had waited throughout the early evening with her friends on a roof.

Others also blamed the late afternoon haze caused by Dhaka's mounting pollution for the poor view. All told, the eclipse's shadow took three hours to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Bay of Bengal.

With the sun at the height of its 11-year cycle of activity, the eclipse was a good chance to investigate why the corona sizzles at 3.6 million degrees amid the cold of space. The temperature at the surface of the sun is only about 11,000 degrees, while the sun's core is estimated at 27 million degrees.

Residents of Portland, Maine, were treated to a colorful, partially eclipsed sunrise

Scientists also hope to learn more about giant gas explosions that erupt on the sun's surface, causing magnetic storms that can interfere with radio, TV and telephone signals on Earth and disrupt satellite communications.

And because eclipses are the nearest nature comes to turning off the sun, they also provide a chance to study the Earth's atmosphere.

Although there are at least two solar eclipses a year, most are partial. Coming at the height of summer and passing over many heavily populated areas, this eclipse was one of the most watched ever.

The next total solar eclipse will be in 2001 over southern Africa.

The Associated Press, Reuters and other wire services contributed to this report.