Story highlights The moon blocks the sun, casts a shadow across parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East

The view of the resulting eclipse is particularly impressive in places like Norway

It's also seen around Europe, though clouds obscure the views of many in England

(CNN) What's better than the sun on a March day in Europe, at the tail end of winter with spring on the doorstep?

No sun, apparently.

That was the verdict of many around the continent, who found Friday morning's solar eclipse picture perfect.

Millions from around North Africa, the Middle East as well as Europe woke up with a chance to see the rare cosmic event. For some of them, it was a partial eclipse; but others -- say if you were at the North Pole, or in Svalbard or the Faroe Islands between Iceland and Norway -- got the full deal.

Such eclipses are basically as old as the galaxy itself, happening when the moon and sun are at just the right distance from the Earth and they appear to be of the same apparent size in the sky -- even though the sun is actually about 400 times larger. An eclipse happens when the moon passes right in front of the sun, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow on the Earth.