Longest eclipse of century wows S. Korea

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Thousands of people across South Korea witnessed Wednesday one of the most spectacular stellar sights -- the longest solar eclipse of the century.

The phenomenon, which occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth,
began in the city of Seoul at 9:34 a.m., moving over the central city of Daejeon
and southern port city of Busan.
The eclipse was to last over two hours and 40 minutes in the country.
While a total solar eclipse could be seen in some other countries such as India,
Nepal, Bangladesh, China and Japan, South Korea only witnessed a partial eclipse.
Skywatchers from the capital Seoul to as far as the country's southernmost resort
of Jeju Island looked upwards for the rare sight, as astronomical researchers did
not expect the next solar eclipse that will last as long on the Korean Peninsula
until 2135.
On the Korean Peninsula, a total solar eclipse occurred in August 19, 1887 and an
annular eclipse in May 21 1948. During an annular eclipse the sun appears as a
very bright ring, or annulus, around the outline of the Moon.
Around 80 percent of the sun was covered in most of the regions on the direct
path of the eclipse.
At 10:48 a.m., however, the eclipse at its maximum covering more than 93 percent
of the sun was observed in Jeju Island, which was the closest region in the
country to Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture.
School children across the country built pinhole cameras or bought solar goggles
to watch the phenomenon.
In the city of Busan, crowds of local people flocked to sandy beaches to observe
and mark the occasion.
The government-backed Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the
country's No.1 Internet portal Naver displayed a live video stream of the eclipse
from several locations in the country.