• A rare solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Africa, Europe and the US this weekend. (AAP)
West Africa's Gabon will get the best of a rare solar eclipse this weekend, with the sun set to be blocked out for an entire minute.
Source:
AAP
31 Oct 2013 - 4:13 AM  UPDATED 31 Oct 2013 - 4:02 PM

A rare solar eclipse will sweep across parts of Africa, Europe and the US this weekend as the moon blocks the sun.

Because of the round shape of the Earth, some viewers in west Africa will see a total eclipse, while others in the US and Europe will only see the sun partly obscured.

Regardless, experts said people should not look directly at the sun during the unusual hybrid eclipse on Sunday unless they use special welder's glass or view it indirectly with a pinhole filter.

Regular sunglasses will not protect the eyes enough.

The greatest part of the eclipse will take place at 1237 GMT (11.37pm) over the Atlantic Ocean, some 330km southwest of Liberia, according to a NASA website that tracks eclipses.

The west African nation of Gabon will get peak viewing of the total eclipse as it sweeps over a path nearly 60km wide.

At its peak over land in central Gabon at about 1350 GMT, the sun will be blocked out for about one minute.

"The eclipse will then continue across Africa through the Congos until it passes through northern Uganda and northern Kenya, ending in southern Ethiopia and Somalia," said the International Astronomical Union.

Weather permitting, partial phases of the eclipse will be in southern Europe, including parts of Spain, Italy and Greece.

In the eastern US, viewers may catch a partial eclipse close to sunrise at 1130 GMT.