SVALBARD, Norway — A solar eclipse briefly darkened the sky over northern Europe on Friday, and millions used sun viewers ranging from a welder's mask to a dental X-ray to watch the cosmic phenomenon.
While the best spot to view the rare total eclipse was in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, possibly the worst was in murky and damp London. But that didn't stop schoolchildren wearing protective glasses from looking up at the thick cloud cover over the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.
And a dog owner even put shielding eyewear on his pooch in London's Regent's Park.
Spectators were creative in trying to get a glimpse of the eclipse. The welder's mask was held up to the sky by a woman in Ukraine, while a man in Kosovo used a dental X-ray to better observe the wonder. Others used makeshift pinhole projectors, while one viewer used a dark glass plate in Bosnia's capital.
The Dutch royals got in the mood, with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima watching the eclipse at the Fish Market in Hamburg, Germany. The queen, dressed from head to toe in red, smiled as her husband pointed up to the sky in delight.
