MOSCOW - Scientists and residents across Siberia and the Russian Far East watched a solar eclipse yesterday that offered a rare opportunity to see a comet passing near the sun.
Scientists and tourists from Russia as well as Japan, the US and other countries travelled to the Siberian city of Chita and elsewhere to make observations.
"It was rather strange when it became dark," said Mr Alexander Garetov, who saw the eclipse along with a group of tourists from Japan. "It was, dark and it became colder." Scientists said the eclipse offered only the third reported opportunity in the past 1,000 years to see a comet - Comet Hale-Bopp - with the naked eye during an eclipse.