BREAKING SPACE NEWSMarch 24, 2006 ISTANBUL -- Tens of thousands of scientists and astronomy fans are expected in Turkey on Wednesday to see the total solar eclipse, Turkish astronomers and hoteliers said on Thursday.
According to NASA, the total eclipse will be visible as it crosses half the Earth, traveling from Brazil through northern Africa and ending up in Mongolia. A partial eclipse will be visible along a much broader path taking in much of Europe, Africa and central Asia. The US space agency has said that the Libyan desert has "the greatest eclipse". Ozguc said, however, many astronomers had chosen to converge on Turkey, where the eclipse will be seen around 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) as it passes through Anatolia northward, passing through tourist hotspots such as the Mediterranean coast and Cappadocia.
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Islam and the solar eclipse
March 24, 2006
"The Sun and the Moon are two of the Signs (Ayat) of Allah: they do not darken for the death or birth of any person, but Allah strikes fear into His servants by means of them.
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Cape Coast, March 24, GNA - Mallam Muniru Hamidu, an Islamic scholar and head of the Hifzil Islamiyya Arabic school in Cape Coast, on Friday said next Wednesday's eclipse, would be one "of the signs that the world was coming to an end", and that everyone must be committed to the service of God and refrain from committing sin. According to him, it is stated in the Koran that when the end of the world was near, God would cause the sun and the moon to come together. Mallam Hamidu, who was speaking to the GNA in Cape Coast on the impending phenomenon, said it signifies and serves as a reminder to people to stop offending God and serve Him well.
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Turkish scientists try to calm quake fears ahead of solar eclipse
Turkey's top seismologist appealed to a nervous public that there was no link between eclipses and earthquakes and gave assurances that there was nothing to fear from the March 29 total solar eclipse.
