Millennium eclipse spell over Europe

Millions of people are defying predictions of poor weather in the hope of catching a clear view of Wednesday's total eclipse of the sun, ...

Millions of people are defying predictions of poor weather in the hope of catching a clear view of Wednesday8217;s total eclipse of the sun, the celestial dance of sun and moon that will provide a curtain-raiser for the end of the millennium.

Heavy rain at the weekend and predictions of dense cloud over much of Europe have failed to put a damper on eclipse fever in southwest England, northern France, southern Germany and other areas that lie within the preordained path of the moon8217;s shadow.

An Air France Concorde airliner has been chartered to chase the moon8217;s shadow over the Atlantic, allowing passengers who will pay 12000 francs 2,000 for the privilege to view the eclipse for more than six minutes.Hotels are booked out from Le Havre to Metz and the French authorities have introduced travel restrictions to reduce the risk of accidents despite warnings by the meteorological office that conditions for watching the eclipse 8220;do not appear favourable8221;.

The German city of Stuttgart, situated right on themedian line of the zone of totality, is expecting to see its population swell by half-a-million people, though the weather service predicts only a 40 per cent chance of clear skies on Wednesday. In Britain, up to 1.5 million visitors are believed to be thinking of heading for Cornwall to experience England8217;s first total solar eclipse since 1927. By Monday however, with weather experts announcing an 80 per cent likelihood of cloud on the big day, only 82,000 people had arrived and the feared gridlock along the county8217;s coastal roads and twisting country lanes had so far failed to materialise.

And as darkness sweeps across Turkey during eclipse, Turks will greet the spectacle with protective eyegear, saucepans and ancient beliefs about sun and sin. Ancient Anatolian tradition demands that people make a racket fire guns intothe Air, beat drums or bang saucepans to make the sun or the moon reappear in the rightful place. In the Middle East, where clear skies are virtually guaranteed, enthusiasm for the eventhas been growing by the day. Jordan has declared Wednesday a public holiday, around 10 million people are expected to watch the eclipse in Iran, and the newspapers in Beirut have written of little else.

The long-anticipated eclipse, caused by the moon8217;s passage between the sun and the earth, is the result of a happy coincidence of geometry and gravity, the earth8217;s satellite being one four-hundredth of the sun8217;s diameter and also 400 times closer to the earth.

Its shadow will sweep across the earth at breakneck speed, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Bay of Bengal in little more than two hours, bringing daytime darkness to the populations in its path.

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Though total solar eclipses occur somewhere on earth every 18 months on average, they rarely pass over such populated areas, and the so-called 8220;millennium eclipse8221; is likely to be seen by more people than any such event in history.A partial eclipse, with a dimming of the sun8217;s rays, will be perceptible throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East,and in most of Asia.