A total eclipse of the Sun is just round the corner. It is due on March 29, 2006. Earth dwellers have been observing a total solar eclipse, an extremely interesting astronomical phenomenon, for a few thousand years. However, scientists became capable of explaining the essence of solar eclipse just recently.A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon is at or near perigee or the closest point in the orbit and the Moon appears large enough to cover the bright disk, photosphere, of the Sun completely. In case a solar eclipse occurs when a solar eclipse when the Moon is at or near apogee or the further point, and the Moon appears smaller, the therefore it can not cover the Sun completely. In that case, at the time of greatest eclipse a thin annulus of the brilliant Sun remains uncovered. Slightly more annular eclipses than the total ones occur because the average Moon lies too far away from Earth to cover the Sun completely.
People living in Russia have not yet had a chance of observing a total solar eclipse in the 21st century. The last total eclipse of the Sun could be observed only in the northern regions of the European part of Russia on March 9, 1997. A solar eclipse similar to the one due on March 29 this year took place 25 years ago, in 1981. The next solar eclipse will be visible in the European part of Russia only in 2061.
This time around, on March 29th, 2006, the eclipse begins at dawn. The shadow will fall on to the Earth in the tropical forests of eastern Brazil near the Atlantic coastline. The umbra will move at a very high speed. Totality is expected to last only one minute over that area. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the umbra will start covering Africa’s shoreline, moving over Ghana to Togo to Benin and Nigeria. The umbra will reach the Sahara at the junction of the state borders of Nigeria, Chad and Libya. Totality will reach its peak over the region – 4 minutes 6 seconds. After passing over the Mediterranean and Turkey, the umbra will move across the eastern part of the Black Sea to cover the area over the entire Central Caucasus. Then the umbra will move across Elbrus and cover the plains of southern Russia. The shadow will reenter the Russian territory at the foothills of the Altai mountain range. It will be seen in Kyzyl for 1 min and 50 sec. In another 15 minutes the eclipse will finally shift to Mongolia where it will finally end at sundown.
Solar Eclipse to be Seen almost for 2 Minutes in Kyzyl
