Tens of thousands of scientists and eclipse enthusiasts were expected to gather across Türkiye on 29 March 2006 to watch a total solar eclipse sweep through Anatolia in the early afternoon, with the path of totality passing over the Mediterranean coast and Cappadocia around 2:00 pm local time.
The eclipse traces a route from Brazil through northern Africa and ends in Mongolia. A partial eclipse is visible across a much wider band taking in most of Europe, Africa, and central Asia. NASA identified the Libyan desert as the prime viewing point, but many researchers selected Türkiye instead, citing reliable weather, no sandstorm risk, straightforward travel connections, and a well-developed hotel network.
The director of Türkiye's national observatory projected close to 1,000 researchers would attend, with two international conferences scheduled around the event. Planned experiments include analysis of the solar corona, which becomes observable only during totality, and measurements of the eclipse's influence on gravity. Totality was forecast to last nearly four minutes.
Hotels in Antalya and Cappadocia reported full bookings ahead of the eclipse, driven largely by Japanese and American visitors. A US television network also planned a live broadcast from the beach resort of Side, with NASA scientists providing on-air commentary.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2006, in its own words.