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On June 21, 2001 a total eclipse of the Sun darkened the continent of Africa. The Moon's shadow made its landfall in Angola on the west coast of the continent then swept across Zambia, where the capital, Lusaka, was within the path of totality, onward through the northeast corner of Zimbabwe, then Mozambique. The umbra next crossed into the Indian Ocean and across the island of Madagascar. Based on the likelihood of clear skies on eclipse day, length of totality, safety of travel, and availability of transportation to a suitable site along the eclipse track, a site near Lusaka, Zambia seemed the best of the available options. Here is the path of totality through Zambia.
Graphic from Total Solar Eclipse of 2001 June 21 by Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson, NASA At almost the very moment we were viewing totality on the ground in Zambia, the EUMETSAT Meteosat-6 satellite in geosynchronous orbit 35785 km above the equator at 9° West longitude imaged the Moon's shadow on southern Africa as part of their eclipse observation program. The tiny spot of totality is not resolved in this image but you can clearly see how the density of shadow increases toward the region of totality in Zambia.
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