Eclipse Shadow on Earth Seen From Space
A total solar eclipse cast a huge shadow on Earth Wednesday, captured by a Japanese satellite.Shown here covering Taiwan at 9:30 a.m. local time at nearly the height of the eclipse, the shadow covered some locations as long as six minutes, making it the longest solar eclipse of the century. The next one this impressive will not occur until 2132.
KUALA TERENGGANU: Dark clouds obscured the view of people who gathered at Kuala Ibai here to witness the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century.
Ahmad Faiz looking into the telescope as his friends look on.
A woman looks through a refractor telescope with a solar filter on top of the roof of a school in Hong Kong.CNN) -- The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the celestial spectacle.
Day turned into night. Temperatures turned cooler.
The total eclipse could be seen starting in India on Wednesday morning and moving eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch a rare view of the sun's corona.
Cloud cover in some areas prevented people from fully savoring the phenomenon. Still, many were awed.
Day turned into night. Temperatures turned cooler.
The total eclipse could be seen starting in India on Wednesday morning and moving eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch a rare view of the sun's corona.
Cloud cover in some areas prevented people from fully savoring the phenomenon. Still, many were awed.
In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to scare off the dog and rescue the sun, said Bill Yeung, president of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.
In India, an eclipse is considered inauspicious. Women forbid pregnant daughters-in-law from going outside out of the belief that their children could be born with marks. Some temples won't offer any prayers on the day of an eclipse -- such as the one next to the planetarium in Mumbai, which said it won't even light a stick of incense.
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