In case you missed the spectacular total Solar eclipse on Friday August 1st, here are some pictures and video taken from various parts of the world.

The eclipse began at 5.21 am at Cambridge Bay and then continued North to Canada's Northern most community of Alert, where it lasted for about 43 seconds. From there on it moved past Greenland, Central Russia , Mongolia and China, where it ended at sunset.

The best sighting of the total solar eclipse occurred in Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city with a population of 1.5 million people. Here, the locals and thousands of tourists who had come for this special treat, were able to watch the phenomenol event for a full two minutes and 23 seconds. Visitors who saw it say it was incredible - it got eerily cold and dark for the brief time and then suddenly it was light again!

While a partial eclipse was seen by a lot of people around the world, the total solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the Sun (click on for previous story), can be seen from a very narrow path and therefore could only be viewed from very specific areas.

The next total solar eclipse will be on July 22nd, 2009 and will pass through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China. North America will not be witness to a total solar eclipse until 2017.

Sources: xinhuanet.com, telegraph.uk.com,cbc.ca.com