Paris, Dec 02: In an age that scoffs at superstition, there will occur on Wednesday a sight guaranteed to tingle the spine of the most hardened skeptic: a total solar eclipse.
In a celestial show that reaches into the soul to inspire dread and awe, the Moon will inch across the face of the Sun and briefly blot out its life-giving light.
Starting in the southern Atlantic at 1120 IST on Wednesday, the shadow will race eastwards, streak across southern Africa and head across the Indian Ocean before traversing South Australia.

Three hours and 21 minutes and 12,000 km from the start of its trek, the umbra will expire unseen, in the wastes of the Outback.

For those people in the path of the "totality," the Sun will be completely obscured, appearing as a dark disc with a halo of gold, blazing in a sky of indigo.

The temperature will suddenly drop. Animals will fall silent or chatter excitedly or scurry about. Birds may fly around in confusion and bats emerge from their roosts, tricked by the instant twilight. The stars and planets will appear - cloud cover allowing.


Then, a few minutes later, as if in a miracle, the Sun will gradually reappear.

Ever since hominids started to ponder the heavens, eclipses have been regarded with fear and the will of the divine.

They have been associated with war, crop failure, plagues, the downfall, death and advent of kings and prophets, such as the crucifixion of Christ and birth of Muhammed. Bureau Report