Once-in-a-millennium solar spectacle today

Astronomy buffs in China will enjoy fine weather conditions for observing a rare annular solar eclipse across a swath of the country in the afternoon today.

The longest annular eclipse for the next 1,000 years will be visible in some areas of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, Cheng Zhuo, a researcher with the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said yesterday.

A partial eclipse will be seen in most of the rest of the country, Cheng said.