Friday's solar eclipse will be partially visible in central and eastern Saudi Arabia, a senior scientist here said. He, however, warned that only special solar filters and not commercially available sunglasses be used for viewing. The solar eclipse will be visible starting 1:26 P.M. in Arar. It will subsequently by visible in Khafji (1:32 P.M.), Hafr Al-Batin (1:34 P.M.), Jubail (1:37 P.M.), Dammam (1:40 P.M.), Abqaiq (1:42 P.M.), Hofuf (1:45 P.M.) and Hail Buraidah and Riyadh (all at 1:55 P.M.), said Dr. Ali M. Al-Shukri, Chairman of the Physics Department at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) here. Use only medically approved solar filters for viewing the solar eclipse, Shukri said. Sunglasses (regular, tinted or darken), smoked glasses, or photographic negatives are not recommended as they will not be able to block all the sun's harmful infrared rays. Across the Gulf, visibility timings are Kuwait (1:28 P.M.), Bahrain (1:40 P.M.), Abu Dhabi (2:45 P.M.), Dubai (2:41 P.M.), Sharjah (2:41 P.M.), and Muscat (2:46 P.M.). Some Artic regions, northeast Canada, northeast Greenland, central Russia including Siberia, western Mongolia and Northwestern China and its northeastern coast, will experience total eclipse, Shukri said. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will broadcast the total solar eclipse, the first in China this century, live on the Internet, the Division of Information Technical Sciences (ITS) said on Tuesday. __
