Special Report: View Solar Eclipse |
SHANGHAI, July 22 (Xinhua) -- As a rare six-minute total solar eclipse fell across Asia Wednesday morning, ordinary Chinese tried creative ways to watch the phenomenon without damaging their eyes.
Though many ideal observation spots were under rain or clouds, days of heavy media coverage had fanned public curiosity.
Astronomers suggested people wear glasses specifically made for watching solar eclipses to protect the eyes from harmful rays, but supplies were too few for the millions of observers, so most people improvised.
Liu Guifang, 52, who works for a cosmetics company in the southern suburbs of Shanghai, held two pieces of paper parallel about a meter apart, and poked a tiny hole with a diameter of around 2 millimeters in one.
She could then look at the reflection of the eclipse on the other piece, which made the solar rays much weaker.
"I learned this from TV," she said. "It's very easy and should be safe."
But only after a couple of seconds, Liu retreated to the building. "The light is still too strong for my eyes."
At about 9:36 a.m., the sun was totally blocked. Road lights were turned on and it was like night. Only then, could Liu and her family enjoy the scene.