Syrians view today’s eclipse through filters. The eclipse was partially visible by about 86 percent in Syria for more than an hour. The last such eclipse, in November 2003, was best viewed from Antarctica, said Alex Young, a NASA scientist involved in solar research. Total eclipses are rare because they require the tilted orbits of the sun, moon and Earth to line up exactly so that the moon obscures the sun completely. The next total eclipse will occur in 2008.

The beginning of a total solar eclipse is captured in Turkey’s Mediterranean town of Side today in this television image provided by NASA.