Mar 23, 2006, 15:01 GMT
Athens - The tiny Greek Aegean island of Kastellorizo will be swamped with amateur and professional astronomers from around the world on March 29 eager to witness a total solar eclipse, which is visible from the island every 380 years.
The island has been designated by astronomers as one of the best places in the world to view the eclipse, when the moon will pass between the earth and sun, casting a shadow from Brazil, crossing northeast over Africa and central Asia.
Rooms on the tiny island, which has a local population of 350 inhabitants and is located just east of the popular tourist island of Rhodes, are reportedly fully booked for the event, according to a report in the daily Kathimerini.
'Due to the great interest in the phenomenon we were contacted by the minister for the Aegean who told use that a passenger ship which can accommodate at least 1,000 people would be sent to the island,' Kastellorizo Mayor Pavlos Panigyris was quoted by the paper as saying.
Apart from Kastellorizo and Libya, astronomers will also be travelling to Antalya in Turkey, where chances of clear skies are also good.
According to Nikos Matsopoulos, an astronomer at the Athens National Observatory, the solar eclipse will begin on Kastellorizo at 12:34 p.m., lasting until 13:55 p.m. It will be completely over at 15:12 p.m.
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