WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- A major astronomical event occurs Wednesday -- a total solar eclipse in which the moon's shadow blocks Earth-bound views of the sun from Brazil to Mongolia.
In Wednesday's event, a total eclipse lasting up to 4 minutes will be visible over a path beginning in Brazil and extending across the Atlantic Ocean, Northern Africa and Central Asia where it ends at sunset in Northern Mongolia.
A partial eclipse will be seen in the much broader path of the moon's shadow, including the northern two-thirds of Africa, Europe and Asia, NASA reported.
The next total solar eclipse visible in the United States will not occur until 2017, but NASA said it will webcast Wednesday's eclipse beginning at 5 a.m. EST.
The next total eclipse, on Aug. 1, 2008, will be visible across northern Canada, Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia and northern China. It will last about 2 minutes.
