Weekend total solar eclipse visible to lucky few

A total eclipse of the sun occurs Sunday, but don't be so quick to take out your special viewing glasses.

Unlike recent solar eclipses, this year's complete blotting out of the sun will be visible only in a narrow slice of the Southern Hemisphere.

The spectacle begins at sunrise some 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) northeast of New Zealand. The moon's shadow will sweep across the South Pacific, darkening skies over the Cook Islands, Easter Island, southern Chile and Argentina.

The time of greatest eclipse will occur over open water, lasting 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff recently traveled to the …