Impenetrable darkness to envelop Earth on March 29
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. Totality in that area will last 2 minutes only. In another 15 minutes the eclipse will finally shift to Mongolia where it will finally end at sundown.
Apart from being a rare a unique sight, an eclipse is a very impressive phenomenon to observe. According to those who have been in luck and saw an eclipse, it is something worth seeing at least once in a lifetime.
