Millions of Europeans will contemplate the sky in awe on Wednesday as a rare total solar eclipse crosses part of the continent and plunges a swathe of Spain into eerie daytime darkness.The shadow cast when the Moon blots out the Sun will begin in Russia's remote Arctic north at around 1700 GMT and continue in an arc over Greenland and Iceland.
In Spain, where the total eclipse will be best viewed, the shadow will cross the country diagonally from the northern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, where it will vanish at around 1830 GMT.
Far more observers will see a partial eclipse, visible in most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa.
This will be mainland Europe's first total eclipse since 2006.
Throughout human history eclipses have stirred amazement, fear and reverence, as they appear to momentarily halt the normal course of nature.
