A woman wears sun glasses while trying to see a partial solar eclipse in Kiev, March 20, 2015. Reuters A solar eclipse thrilled thousands of sky gazers on remote Arctic islands on Friday but clouds disappointed some viewers of a rare celestial show that was also partly visible for millions in Europe, Africa and Asia.
People cheered and clapped as the moon blocked the sun for about 2.5 minutes under clear skies on the icy Norwegian islands of Svalbard, where tourists had been warned of risks of frostbite and polar bears after an attack on Thursday.
But clouds masked the sky over Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands further south and the only other place where a total eclipse was visible from land as the moon's shadow skimmed across the Atlantic.
"It was overcast, there was rain and wind. You could see nothing. It was a disappointment for everybody," said Gabor Lantos, a Hungarian tourist. "Some tourists were so irritated, they argued with tour operators, demanding their money back."
Others were more awestruck by the sudden darkness.
"It was worth coming here from Australia, probably not as good as the 2012 eclipse we saw in Cairns, but still worth coming," said Australian visitor Michael Tonks. Street lights came on automatically as the sky blackened.
Some eclipse viewers gathered on an icy mountainside in Svalbard. "We couldn't ask for more. It was stunning," said Ronny Brunvoll, head of the Visit Svalbard organisation.
In Svalbard, a polar bear mauled a Czech tourist on Thursday, breaking into his tent as he slept. Jakub Moravev, flown by helicopter to hospital, escaped with light injuries to his face, chest and an arm.
Population swells for eclipse
The Faroe Islands expected about 8,000 visitors on top of the archipelago's 50,000 population for the first eclipse in the region in 60 years. About 2,000 people made the trek to Svalbard, doubling the population there.
"I've seen aurora, I've seen some volcano eruptions, but the total eclipse is still the most spectacular thing I've ever seen. And each one is unique," said Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist in Torshavn.
In an eclipse, when skies are clear, stars and planets are suddenly visible in daytime and a ring of fire - the corona - appears around the sun.
In one famous experiment, a 1919 eclipse provided evidence for Einstein's theory of relativity by showing that the sun's mass bent light from distant stars.
On Friday, electrical grids claimed success in managing the unprecedented disruption to solar power from the eclipse that brought sudden, massive swings in supply over a 2-1/2-hour period.
The small audience on Friday contrasted with tens of millions of people who saw the last major eclipse in Europe in 1999. This time around, a partial eclipse was visible mainly in Europe and Russia, and glanced parts of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Twitter was dominated by the eclipse, with seven of the top 10 trending terms related to the sun and moon in Germany. And the German word for "doomsday" was the ninth most popular topic.
European power grids keep lights on through solar eclipse
Electrical grids in Europe succeeded in managing the unprecedented disruption to solar power from Friday's 2-1/2-hour eclipse that brought sudden, massive drops in supply.
Germany, Europe's leading economy and boasting the world's biggest solar-powered installations, was at the heart of the event.
Of 89 gigawatt (GW) of installed European solar capacity, it has 38.2 GW, which in theory is enough to meet half of its maximum demand.
The initial 15 GW drop in Germany was less than operators had feared. They were able to draw on alternative power sources including coal, gas, biogas, nuclear and hydroelectric energy pumped from storage and were helped by demand reductions from industry including four aluminium plants.
"Good preparations paid off, we were able to handle all swings in production," said Ulrike Hoerchens, spokeswoman for one of the four high-voltage grid firms, TenneT, which operates in the region with the highest share of photovoltaic units.
Solar power output has expanded sharply to 38.2 gigawatts (GW) since the region's last notable eclipse in 2003, so the country - which borders nine nations - needed to prove its power market and network handling centres could function under extraordinary conditions.
German solar output right before the eclipse totalled 21.7 GW, then dropped to a low point of 6.2 GW, followed by an addition of 15 GW again within the following hour, TenneT said.
The speed of feed-in was treble the normal maximum, which could have caused disruptions.
At Germany's national meteorological office in Offenbach near Frankfurt, some 50 people were gathered on the roof of a six-storey building equipped with home-made viewing devices - among many people across the region stepping out to see the event.
Operators across Europe had been making preparations for several months, improving communications and doubling staff levels on the day.
Europe saw a decrease in solar power of a total 17 GW and an increase afterwards by 25 GW, said Pierre Bornard, deputy chief executive of French grid RTE and chairman of grid company lobby ENTSO-E.
In Britain, the National Grid said solar output would be reduced by 850 megawatts but there would be a small drop in demand as people were expected to go outside to see the phenomenon.
In Spain, grid firm Red Electrica said reserve levels had been raised and big consumers could have been disconnected, while Italy's Terna decided to switch off 30 percent of solar capacity and make it up from other sources, which traders said raised prices.
An industry source said Italian prices were also pushed higher by reduced availability of power imports from neighbouring countries as the eclipse reduced solar output.
Norwegian, Danish and Czech grid sources said supply had been under control.
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