India Cowers Ahead of Total Solar Eclipse

United Astrology Conference panel is unanimous in prediction

(NEWSER) - A panel of renowned astrologers unanimously predicts that President Obama will be re-elected this fall—and before you scoff, the same panel also predicted his win in 2008. The presidential election prediction is the final event—and the highlight—of the United Astrology Conference, the world's largest astrology gathering that meets every four years. The conference also makes predictions related to earthquakes, lunar cycles, and the stock market, USA Today reports. More»

'Ants look up from anthill,' notes one observer

(NEWSER) - The rare "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse did not disappoint. Millions of watchers from Tokyo to San Francisco and Albuquerque stood transfixed before homemade pinhole boxes, telescope projections, live action on computers—or peered at the sky with special cardboard glasses as the moon moved into position to turn the sun into a crescent, and, finally, left a slender, fiery ring around the mega star. Heavy clouds obscured the sun in Hong Kong, but the sky was clear for minutes in Tokyo to the delight of earthlings. After sweeping across the Pacific, the eclipse was spotted in Oregon and northern California, then Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, notes CNN . "Is it the nerd in me that's beyond excited to see this solar eclipse?" asked a tweeter. More»

But contrary to rumor, it had nothing to do with Japan's earthquake

(NEWSER) - Hope for clear skies: A "supermoon" is due tomorrow. NASA scientist Jim Garvin explains that a supermoon is "when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average"—a situation that’s "most noticeable" when it coincides with a full moon, as it will tomorrow. "The moon may seem bigger, although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times," continues Garvin. Tomorrow, the moon will be some 221,567 miles from Earth; usually it’s more like 238,000 miles, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

Only those in the Southern Hemisphere get a glimpse

(AP) - A total eclipse of the sun occurs tomorrow, but don't be so quick to take out your special viewing glasses. Unlike recent solar eclipses, this year's complete blotting out of the sun will be visible only in a narrow slice of the Southern Hemisphere. The spectacle begins at sunrise some 1,200 miles northeast of New Zealand. The moon's shadow will sweep across the South Pacific, darkening skies over the Cook Islands, Easter Island, and parts of southern Chile and Argentina. More»

(NEWSER) - A woman was killed early today in a stampede at the Ganges River where thousands of devout Hindus gathered to witness a total eclipse of the sun, AP reports. Millions poured outside to see the longest eclipse of the 21st Century. But many in the superstitious nation fearfully huddled indoors until sunlight returned. More»