Saki — THE moon blotted out the sun, turning day into night, in a total solar eclipse yesterday that carved a path from the tip of Brazil over northern Africa to the steppes of Mongolia. Thousands of astronomers and thrill-seekers gazed heavenward and prayers were said by the faithful as the three-hour celestial ballet raced across half the world.

"Wao, God is Great," shouted Tina Ukoh, a resident of Abuja as she watched the eclispe along with others.

The fourth total eclipse of the 21st century began soon after dawn over the far northeastern Brazilian city of Natal when, at 5:49 am (0849 GMT), the sun disappeared for 10 minutes and it was night again. Moving at dizzying speed, the lunar shadow reached Ghana at 0910 GMT and Nigeria shortly afterwards.

Vice President Atiku Abubakar and members of the Federal Executive Council who were holding their weekly meeting in Abuja at the time came out to observe the eclipse.

Countries lying directly under the path, thus able to see a total eclipse, were Brazil, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, where it was to end at 1148 GMT after covering a distance of some 14,500 kilometres (9,000 miles).

Observers 2,500 kilometers either side of that path were to see a partial eclipse, with a fifth of the sun obscured in Britain, southern Sweden and the southern Gulf and up to 80 per cent in parts of the Middle East.

Authorities pulled out all the stops to promote the event and draw tourists and eclipse junkies, the small army of astronomers and sightseers who cluster wherever and whenever the celestial alignment takes place.

Togo declared a national holiday and in Ghana it was carried live on state television. Libya, until recently an international pariah, relaxed entry rules to allow in at least 7,000 observers from 47 different countries, and granted special permission for telescopes.

The total eclipse was at its longest in Libya-- at four minutes and seven seconds -- and the country has a typically dry atmosphere and open skies ideal for watching the phenomenon. Prayers were said in mosques there and in Niger, where Sheikh Amadou Yahaya, a senior cleric, said eclipses "are omens, a call to order."

Atiku, ministers watch

Wearing a special protective spectacle to watch the eclipse, Vice President Atiku told State House correspondents that the eclipse was very interesting. The ministers that came out in groups to savour the eclipse wore the special spectacles provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology. "It is quite interesting. We are not expected to see total eclipse in Abuja but I think that there areother places in the country where they are expected to see a total eclipse of the sun," he said, admittingthat he had not watched an eclipse before.

"I cannot remember. You know when I was a kid they used to lock us up in the room and not allow us to come out. I wish everybody is aware of this so that they can come out and see how it is. But I know that there are a lot superstitious beliefs surrounding this," he said.The eclipse threw Kazaure in Jigawa State into total darkness. Earlier in the day, the town had been enveloped by a windy and hazy weather that reduced visibility to 200 metres.

The eclipse was partial in Lagos. It lasted about few minutes at Shaki in Oyo State.

It was partially felt in Plateau State with a sudden but brief change in weather. The bright sunny morning became suddenly cloudy at some minutes past 10.am with the sun shining brightlyon another side. There was also a brief drop in temperature during the period but the situation was back to normal within 30 minutes.Some residents of Jos positioned themselves to catch a glimpse of the eclipse even though aware that it was not going to be pronounced in the state.

Fears in Turkey

But in northern Turkey, hundreds of people were camping out in tents after an academic claimed the eclipse would be followed by a severe earthquake with an epicentre near the town of Niksar. The town's deputy mayor said some nearby villages were 80 per cent empty.

"We will continue to live in tents for two more months after the eclipse," said Mustafa Hasta, an elder man from Yolkonak village now sharing a tent with six relatives.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his wife -- wearing special glasses to filter out the ultraviolet light -- and several thousand tourists converged at Al-Salloum, near the border with Libya, television pictures showed.

Eclipses should never be viewed without good optical filters as ultraviolet light, which is invisible to the human eye, can burn the retina even when the sun is covered.

Countries have imported millions of glasses to tackle the risk, and Jordan and Lebanon closed schools for the day out of concern for children's safety.

In Niger, a local police official said he was under orders to arrest anyone arriving at Kareygourou, a vantage point near the capital Niamey, without the right equipment.

The only part of the European Union to lie on the path of totality was the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, a few kilometres from Turkey. Cameras were set up there to relay images to a giant screen at a square in central Athens.

In Side, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, tens of thousands of people also gathered waiting for the shadow to pass overheard. "I've come with a group of 500 fanatics, we've rented a whole hotel," said Thomas Reichart from Stuttgart, southwest Germany.

The next eclipse will be on August 1, 2008, on a track that stretches across North America, Europe and Asia. Its path of totality will swing across Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia and China.