article_snippet: The timing of the eclipse, which comes a few weeks before a lunar eclipse, is apparently significant.
article_snippet: This is an area known as the umbra, where light from the Sun is blocked by our planet.
article_snippet: If it skirts the shadow, known as a partial or penumbral eclipse, the effect is less dramatic.
article_snippet: Shown is an illustration of the sun, Earth and moon in line .
article_snippet: Back in the world of science, the eclipse on Friday marks a fascinating opportunity for observers to see the amazing mathematical coincidence take place in the solar system.
article_snippet: Experts have warned, however, that no one should attempt to look directly at the sun without specialised solar glasses.
article_snippet: Meanwhile, scientists will also be using the two-hour event to study one of the sun's biggest mysteries.
article_snippet: A team based in Svalbard, north of Norway, will be hoping to use the two-hour event to find out why the sun's corona - its outer atmosphere - is hotter than its surface.
article_snippet: The plasma of the sun is only visible during a total eclipse, so the scientists will use this unique opportunity to try and solve the puzzling phenomena.
article_snippet: And in an amazing coincidence, the eclipse will occur over the North Pole on the same day the sun comes into view after six months of polar night - an event which happens only once every 500,000 years.