Eclipse

From today's Independent
Cloud cover fails to take shine off annular eclipse
By Michael McCarthy
Published:04 October 2005
It was very different in Spain, which lay along the centre of the eclipse's track across the earth, where cloudless skies afforded watchers a perfect view.
Thousands of people gathered in Madrid, judged the best place to see yesterday's event, and other towns and cities to see an unusual and spectacular version of a partial eclipse - a so-called annular eclipse, which occurs when the whole of the moon's disc is visible against the sun.
In Madrid, families, teenagers with teachers and groups of enthusiasts met at the city's planetarium and donned protective glasses to watch the event directly, or via a giant television screen. "It was a beautiful sight. I won't see one again," said Isabel Balset, 68. "I got very emotional and the tears just flowed."
The Iberian peninsula has not witnessed an annular eclipse since 1 April, 1764, and will not see another one until 2028. The last total eclipse seen in Iberia was in 1912.