Solar eclipse will help scientists study sun's corona

Rare event will blot out the sun in Faroe Isles while best place to watch it in the UK, the Isle of Lewis, prepares for public viewing

Solar eclipse 1999 - in pictures

The world will turn a little darker on Friday as the moon wanders across the face of the sun and casts a dark shadow over parts of Europe and the Arctic Ocean.

The rare solar eclipse will completely blot out the morning sun on the Faroe Isles, 200 miles (321km) north of Scotland, and in Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean - the only two land masses to experience a total eclipse this time.