Dhaka, July 22 (Xinhua) The long-awaited total solar eclipse was observed Wednesday morning in northwestern Bangladesh that lasted for little more than three minutes.

Despite the cloudy weather, tens of thousands of astronomy enthusiasts gathered in the South Asian country's northwestern Panchagarh district, about 440 km from here, observed the greatest celestial spectacle of the century.

Panchagarh district, the nearest town to the central line of the Umbra was earlier declared as the Capital of the Total Solar Eclipse 2009 in Bangladesh.

The total solar eclipse started there at about 07:56 a.m. (0056 GMT) and lasted about three to four minutes, creating a night-like situation in the town.