ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: Faculty members, researchers and curious families chased the solar eclipse at different places in the city on Friday to experience one of the most fascinating phenomena in Nature.

Researchers tracked the eclipse through the Met Department's high-powered telescope installed at the Astronomical Laboratory at Chak Shahzad for the two hours that moon obscured the view of sun -- a body 400 times bigger than itself.

Inquisitive citizens trained their telescopes and binoculars, or held just an x-ray film against the sun, to track the eclipse. Dozens of men, women and children gathered on the roof of the COMSATS building saw in awe the tiny moon gobble up almost 60 per cent of the sun surface.

Total solar eclipse was visible in a narrow corridor through northern Canada, middle of Russia, western Mongolia and China. Elsewhere only partial eclipse could be seen.

In northern Pakistan, the partial eclipse was visible starting from 4:20pm till 6:19pm.

With fewer than 70 total eclipses per century, it is once-in-a-lifetime chance to see one for most of us. A total sun eclipse occurs about every 18 months.

But according to scientists it is a monthly, or even a daily event probably. "It's just that the shadow of the moon does not land on the Earth every time," explained Saiful Islam Qureshi, President of Pakistan Astronomical Society.

"It is unfortunate that our people are not interested in such a spectacle of nature. To many it means little. But for us researchers it's a spectacular experience," observed Ahmad Waqas, lecturer in astronomy at COMSATS.

For the audience present around him however it was equally awe-inspiring to view the partial sun eclipse. "How much more exciting would have been complete darkness in the midst of day. But to witness even this much is thrilling," commented one among the audience.

The next total eclipse will take place in 2019.