Partial solar eclipse brings Slovakia to standstill

People in Slovakia observed a partial solar eclipse on Friday (20 March) from a number of places. "The spring equinox will take place this year on Friday, when the Sun will rise to the celestial equator shortly before midnight to commence calendar and astronomical spring. Coincidentally, it will be on this very day that an eclipse of the Sun will occur in the morning. The last time we saw a partial eclipse was four years ago on 4 January, 2011, and we'll be waiting for the next chance for a good seven and half years," said Július Koza of the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) on Thursday. The partial solar eclipse was visible in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Russia and Greenland. A complete eclipse was observable across the northern Atlantic south of Iceland, then on the Faroe Islands; the Svalbard islands (Norway), the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole. The complete eclipse will last longest above the North Sea, south of Iceland, where the moon will blot out the sun for two minutes and 47 seconds. "The eclipse in Slovakia will last approximately two hours and 20 minutes, with almost two-thirds of the sun disk covered during the peak phase," said Koza.