Cyprus sees partial sun eclipse

A brief partial sun eclipse was witnessed in Cyprus on Wednesday noon.

The partial sun eclipse occurred at 12:58 p.m.(1058 GMT) when the sun was briefly blotted out as the moon and the sun aligned by 95 percent, casting a lunar shadow on the earth.

The phenomenon was visible from 12:38 local time (1038 GMT) whereas its peak time happened at 14:00 (1200 GMT) and lasted until 15:15 (1315 GMT).

According to semi-official Cyprus News Agency, four telescopes fit with special filters were placed on the Fakas Institute's roof in Nicosia where the public could watch the eclipse.

Apart from the telescopes, local residents bought themselves hundreds of eclipse glasses amid warning that eclipses couldn't be seen without proper optical filters or glasses specially designed to filter out ultraviolet light.

A number of Cypriots even traveled to the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo to watch the eclipse.

The tiny island is located a few kilometers off the coast of Turkey, and is said to be the only part of the European Union to lie on the path of a total solar eclipse that is witnessed in African countries of Libya and Egypt on Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua