August's total eclipse : 28-07-2008
Adventure travellers in northern countries between Canada and China will be among only one per cent of humans to see the first of three total solar eclipses to take place over the next three years.
The moon will completely obscure the sun for only two and a half minutes on August 1st at around 8:30 am (GMT).
It will arc across the northern part of the earth, starting in Canada and travelling across Greenland, Russia and ending in northern China.
Nasa Astrophysicist Fred Espenak is raring to go and can't wait for August 1st.
"On a scale of one to ten, a partial eclipse is of some interest," he said.
"A total eclipse on that scale is ten million. It can't be compared to anything else. It should be on everybody's life list."
Despite his enthusiasm, he explained that some aren't as excited by the event.
"A lot of women believe viewing an eclipse will cause birth defects if they're pregnant," Espenak said. "I've seen this in Mexico, India, Indonesia and Bolivia."
Indeed throughout history there have been numerous examples of an eclipse being viewed in a bad light.
In 1133 AD, an eclipse in England was seen to signify the death of King Henry I.