SINGAPORE/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India – The longest, ring-like solar eclipse of the millennium started Friday, with astronomers saying the Maldives was the best place to view the phenomenon that will not happen again for over 1,000 years. US space agency NASA said on its website the eclipse was annular, meaning the moon will block most of the sun's middle, but not its edges, causing it to look like a ring. This blockage lasted for 11 minutes, 8 seconds, an annual duration NASA said would not be exceeded until Dec. 23, 3043. The “ring” was seen in a narrow stretch spanning Central Africa, the Maldives, southern India, northern Sri Lanka, parts of Myanmar and China. In Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it will be a partial eclipse, NASA said. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but does not completely obscure it, thus leaving a ring - an annulus - of sunlight flaring around the lunar disk. The Moon's shadow first struck the southwestern tip of Chad and western Central African Republic at 0514 GMT and then reached Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia before racing across Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and China. Local media in the affected areas issued warnings about the dangers of looking directly at the sun, but fascinated onlookers thronged streets to witness the celestial phenomenon. “It's getting interesting. Birds are singing. It's actually getting cold here. It looks like night now,” said John Saitega, a 34-year-old father of six in Olte Tefi, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Nairobi. In the southern Indian state of Kerala, astronomers from across the world gathered to watch the eclipse which at its height was expected to last for three and a half minutes. Veteran eclipse chaser Daniel Fischer from German astronomy magazine Interstellarum picked a vantage spot on a cliff in Varkala, 62 kilometers (38 miles) north of the Keralan city of Thiruvananthapuram. “I'm thrilled. My first eclipse was Indonesia in 1983. I can't afford to miss the event,” said Fischer, who has witnessed 23 eclipses. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched three small rockets Thursday and a further five Friday to study the effects of the event on the atmosphere. In the Ugandan capital Kampala motorcycle taxi drivers stopped on street corners to share dark glasses and gaze up at the sky. Some residents were afraid of the intensity of the light. “Can't it burn someone? You can't even look direct because I'm fearing for my eyes. I'm fearing it can burn me,” said Angela Namukwaya, a shopkeeper in a Kampala suburb. According to astronomical websites, the last annular eclipse occurred roughly 1 year ago, Jan. 26, 2009. The next one will happen May 20, 2012.
