One of nature’s greatest spectacles — a rare total solar eclipse — began casting its shadow on Wednesday, briefly turning day into night in Russia’s remote Arctic north before heading toward mainland Europe.

The Moon first blotted out the Sun at the northernmost tip of mainland Russia at about 5 p.m. GMT (8 p.m. Israel time), leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona and eerie darkness.

As it passed down through parts of Greenland and Iceland, excitement built in Spain, where the eclipse’s narrow path cut diagonally from the northwestern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, before fading at about 6:45 p.m. GMT (9:45 p.m. Israel time). The eclipse was not visible from Israel.

Tourists and enthusiasts thronged normally quiet Spanish villages, as mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century.

Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1433.

“It’s the first time and it’s the last time, the only time I’m going to see an eclipse,” Yenny Guevera, a 50-year-old Peruvian living in France, told AFP excitedly in Burgos, northwest Spain.

“I like painting and I really like light,” said Mercedes Bua, a 51-year-old engineer awaiting the eclipse’s passage in a park in Colmenar Viejo, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Madrid. “So I find it interesting to see how it’s going to look.”

Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand as a partial eclipse was........

© The Times of Israel