On Wednesday, 2006 March 29, a total eclipse of the Sun took place and was visible from within a narrow corridor which traversed half the Earth. The path of the Moon's umbral shadow began in Brazil and extended across the Atlantic, northern Africa, and central Asia where it ended at sunset in western Mongolia. A partial eclipse was seen within the much broader path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes the northern two thirds of Africa, Europe, and central Asia.
The instant of greatest eclipse occured at 10:11:18 UT when the axis of the Moon’s shadow passed closest to the center of Earth. Totality reached its maximum duration of 4 min 7 s, the Sun’s altitude was 67°, the path width was 184 km and the umbra’s velocity was 0.697 km/s. Continuing on a northeastern course, the umbra crossed central Libya and reached the Mediterranean coast at 10:40 UT. Northwestern Egypt also lied within the umbral path where the central duration was 3 min 58 s.