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Millions of people were treated to a rare view of a solar eclipse this morning. Some thousands who could make it to northern Canada or central Russia, Mongolia or China got the full monty—a total eclipse lasting more than two minutes.

Here's ScientificAmerican.com's special report on today's eclipse. Update (8/1): View a slide show of the eclipse here.

For a replay of the eclipse as seen in China, go to this page set up by San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum, which sent an eclipse expedition to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China near the Mongolian border.

For views of the partial eclipse, visible from much of Europe and Asia, check out flickr and the eclipse page of Scientific American's German counterpart, Spektrum der Wissenschaft.

Image credit: Xinhua/Han Chuanhao

7 Comments

1. 1. bentennyson 01:23 PM 8/1/08

   give more information about solar eclipse and superstitious beliefs regarding solar eclipse

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2. 2. bentennyson 01:24 PM 8/1/08

   Please Tell me about Solar Eclipse and superstitious beliefs about Solar Eclipse

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3. 3. bentennyson 01:25 PM 8/1/08

   please tell me more about solar eclipse and superstitious beliefs involved in this

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4. 4. Benny R 01:28 PM 8/1/08

   Thanks for the article, and the reflections indicated with angular directions that can be appreciated. Wondering if photos with "infrared" were obtained, to determine the spectrum at this time... ?
   Thanks again.
   Ben R. Rodriguez MS
   BenRRR@Gmail.com

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5. 5. Maah! in reply to bentennyson 02:08 PM 8/1/08

   According to the Ancient Vedic Texts of India, translated into English by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, when either the Sun (Suryadeva) or Moon (Chandradeva) become eclipsed, it is due to the attack of an invisible planet called Rahu. The Sun and Moon are subsequently protected by the invincible disk (Surdarshan Chakra) weapon of the maintainer of the universe, Lord Visnu, Himself . Since the beginning of civilization, during an eclipse, people bathe in the holy rivers such as the Ganges, Saraswati or Januma and sing the Holy Names of God to ward off the inauspicious effects of elipses. This is still done by many even today. They never try to look at it, and if they are not bathing in a holy river, they stay out of the sun. Even today, food is not eaten during this time and pregnant ladies are advised to not hold sharp objects in their hands. Of course, they do not consider their version to be myth as numerous websites testify and their pandits (learned holy men) attest. It would be good for western scientists to research if their beliefs hold any water by observation and calculations.
   
   For more information on the Vedic Version of the Solar system check out
   the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur, India and check out the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 5, Chapter 25.
   
   Thank you and be well.

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6. 6. Vigor Zhao 10:17 PM 8/1/08

   Thanks to the great photoes,I feel its beauty.but I want to learn more.

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7. 7. Fabrice LOTY 04:25 PM 8/2/08

   If ancient myhts of the nations were permeated by superstitious beliefs, an ancient, yet reliable record dually existed : the Bible. Concerning celestial wonders, the Bible foretold in the book of Acts of Apostles, chapter 2, verse 20 : ‘The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and illustrious day of Jehovah arrives.’ Recent studies show the sun is not totally immobile. Better, it is turning left and right with an angle less than 30 degrees. In that way, the small dark region in the sun is often exposed, thus allowing complete darkness in the night. As sun thermonuclear energy is running out, this dark region will become sizable, at the appointed time of the reaction. The sun will thus be turned into darkness, and the moon, not receiving enough light from the sun, will rather display infrared light from the nearer planet (Earth), thus being turned into a bloodlike aspect. Similarly, Joshua of old asked for the smaller dark face of the sun to be hidden. Since the moon could step in the miraculous longer day and thus create a disturbing eclipse, Joshua equally asked for the moon to be halted. Another instance of the sun being set to its darker position is when Jesus Christ expired. Darkness covered the region for about one hour.

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