First solar eclipse around the corner

The Earth, the Sun and the Moon will align in a celestial ballet on Friday. The recipient will be China, where the first record of an eclipse was made more than 4,000 years ago, with a dazzling show.

Longingly awaited, the first total solar eclipse since March 2006, kicks off at 1453 IST, when the lunar shadow touches down on the fringes of Nunovet province in northern Canada.

The dark, narrow disc known as the umbra, then races across central Russia and Central Asia and head into Mongolia and north-western China. It then curves to the South-East before expiring near the city of Xin at 1650 IST, after a trek of some 10,200 kms.

Most of Asia, northern Europe and northern Canada will see a partial eclipse, according to NASA's eclipse expert. 'More than a billion people will be in the shadow of the Moon on August 1' says the US publication Sky & Telescope.

Eclipses of the Sun have long held a tenacious grip on the human mind. To ancient Chinese, it was a sun- eating dragon which had to be chased away with clashing of cymbals and pans. In Hindu mythology , demon Rahu takes a bite out of the Sun from time to time.