Plus: Returning to Bucha, and Mount Etna's smoke rings ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. In a long-awaited day for astronomy enthusiasts, people across North America witnessed a total eclipse of the Sun. For those unable to see it in person, here are some of the best pictures of the event. Scroll down for a summary of how scientists sought to make the most of it. In Ukraine, meanwhile, Sarah Rainsford returns to Bucha, two years after the end of the Russian occupation. BBC Burmese and Jonathan Head also report on the Myanmar army recruiting members of the discriminated Rohingya minority. Finally, we cast our eyes to the sky once more, this time over Sicily, where Mount Etna has been puffing near-perfect smoke rings. | |
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Four-minute window to study the universe |
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| | At the point of totality, the Moon perfectly blocks the Sun. Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC | While millions of people in North America watched the total solar eclipse simply to experience the awesomeness of it all, scientists see it as an opportunity to conduct often impossible experiments, and unravel the secrets of the universe. |
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| | Georgina Rannard, Science reporter |
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| How does the eclipse impact animals? | Lots of animals appear to have anxious responses to the sudden darkness. Prof Adam Hartstone-Rose from North Carolina State University will spend Monday at the zoo in Fort Worth, Texas. He'll be looking out for strange behaviours in animals from gorillas to giraffes to Galapagos tortoises. Spoiler: during the 2017 eclipse, the turtles suddenly started mating. | What can we learn about the Sun? | Normally the Sun's incredible brightness makes the corona impossible to see, but on Monday scientists in Dallas, Texas, will be able to point instruments at the solar eclipse and take images of it. Scientists with Aberystwyth University in Wales and from Nasa hope to gain insight into solar wind, which is the plasma thrown from the Sun's surface. Another puzzle is why the corona seems to be much hotter than the Sun's surface, despite being on its edge. | What else is of interest? | The Sun's activity can disrupt almost all our communications, including the humble long-wave radio. To test what that does to radio, hundreds of amateur radio operators will join a listening party and send signals to each other across the world, competing for the most connections. | | In pictures: What people across North America were able to see of the total eclipse of the Sun. Fun fact: The disappearance of clouds is just one of the several eerie impacts, such as darkening skies and absence of bird song, that are likely to be observed during a total solar eclipse. Follow live: As the eclipse passes through time zones across North America, get the latest images and reactions. | |
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| Rebuilding Bucha, two years on | | Ludmila has only recently been able to install a headstone for her husband Valeriy. Credit: BBC | In March 2022, invading Russian troops occupied the Ukrainian town of Bucha outside Kyiv. The trail of death and destruction they left behind in 33 days of occupation shocked the world. Today, it still haunts those who have returned to their homes over the past two years. |
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| | Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe correspondent |
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| | Behind the white walls of St Andrew's Church, where many were buried in a mass grave during the occupation, there is now a memorial wall of metal plaques. So far it displays 509 names. Some squares are still blank because there are more than 100 unidentified bodies at the town cemetery, unearthed from shallow graves all over Bucha and reburied. DNA samples were taken first, in the hope that someone would one day come looking for them.
Other plaques on the memorial wall have no death date - only the month of March, when Bucha was under Russian occupation. Opposite is a sign that lists the dozens of people still missing. Among the names is Bohdan Kostyrenko, whose wife Natalia I first met in 2022. I was investigating the killing of five men from Bucha whose bodies had been found beneath a children's summer camp. Natalia's husband had been taken away by Russian soldiers and she feared he might be one of the dead. He wasn't. |
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THE BIG PICTURE | Myanmar army seeks Rohingyas recruits |
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| | | Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution. Credit: Getty Images | In 2017, Myanmar's army launched a brutal clearance operation targeting Rohingya communities in Rakhine State. Now, Rohingyas are being recruited to fight for the embattled junta that is struggling against rebel groups across the country. The army has denied sending Rohingyas into battle. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | Engineered to perfection | Malaysia's kek lapis (layer cake) hides a kaleidoscope of geometric patterns. | |
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And finally... in Italy | We've been spending quite some time looking at circles in the sky today, but this one is slightly different. A new crater has opened on the summit of Mount Etna, puffing near-perfect smoke rings into the Sicilian sky. Take a look. | |
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In History newsletter | The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. | |
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