"Never doubt in the darkwhat you saw in the light."

"'The weather was perfect,' writes Sky & Telescope executive editor J. Kelly Beatty from about 50 miles south of the oasis of Jalu in east-central Libya. 'Our 146-member TravelQuest/S&T group was joined by about 2,000 other eclipse chasers from around the world. The temperature drop during totality was quite significant. There was also amazing brush detail in the corona — it really took my breath away. Shadow bands were prolonged and obvious, even on the flat sand.

"'We had a visit from one of [Libyan president Moammar] Khadafi's sons, who serves as the minister of tourism. All the Muslims lined up before second contact and prayed throughout totality — with their eyes to the ground! They never got to see the corona. I'm told by the imam who led the prayer that the practice of praying during eclipses goes back to the Prophet Muhammad himself.'"

"Libya, until recently an international pariah, relaxed entry rules to allow in at least 7,000 observers from 47 different countries, and granted special permission for telescopes. The total eclipse reached its peak in Libya, lasting four minutes and seven seconds there.

"Prayers were said in mosques there and in Niger, where Sheikh Amadou Yahaya, a senior cleric, said eclipses 'are omens, a call to order.'

"In Iraq, national television carried pictures of the partial eclipse while in the southern port city of Basra, the faithful went to mosques for a special prayer, called Salat al-Qusuf [or Salat ul-Kusuf --Ed.]. Eclipses are revered in Islam as proof of God's control over the Moon and Sun."