Daytime darkness: wonder and superstition go hand-in-hand for the first total eclipse in years

SCHOOLCHILDREN cheered as the first total eclipse in years plunged Ghana into daytime darkness yesterday, a solar show sweeping northeast from Brazil to Mongolia.

All that could be seen of the sun were the rays of its corona - the usually invisible extended atmosphere of the sun that glowed a dull yellow for three minutes.

Automatic street lights flickered on, authorities sounded whistles and schoolchildren burst into applause across Ghana’s capital, Accra. Many in the country of Christians and Muslims said the event bolstered their faith.