The NATO ARW on the problems of ground-based observations of Solar Eclipses was held in Sinaia (Romania) between 1 and 5 June 1996. The Workshop was divided into seven sessions, in which 17 papers were given, by key speakers, along with 30 oral presentations. Additionally, 30 posters were presented. This issue contains only the invited and oral papers. The posters are to be published in a special issue of the Romanian Astronomical Journal. The contributions were based on our present knowledge of solar corona physics and on the perspectives for future total eclipse observations, focussing especially on that of August 11, 1999, which will be the last eclipse of the century. The workshop sessions reviewed the results of past eclipse observations, coronal hot and cold structures, coronal heating, public education, and instrumental problems. At the end of the meeting a fruitful general discussion drew out problems to be studied and techniques to be used for forthcoming observations. Posters completed the workshop contributions.

Abstract: A total eclipse of the sun will be visible from Asia and the Pacific Ocean on 1995 October 24. The path of the moon's shadow begins in the Middle East and sweeps across India, Southeast Asia, and the waters of the Indonesian archipelago before ending at sunset in the Pacific. Detailed predictions for this event are presented and include besselian elements, geographic coordinates of the path of totality, physical ephemeris of the umbra, topocentric limb profile corrections, local circumstances for 400 cities, maps of the eclipse path, weather prospects, the lunar limb profile, and the sky during totality.

With the upcoming total solar eclipse of 2017 August 21, certain questions naturally arise as to the frequency of these events. When was the last total eclipse through the USA and when is the next? How often do they happen? What total eclipse tracks passed across the USA during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, etc., and what states did they include? And how often is a total solar eclipse visible from each of the 50 states? In 2012 the track of an annular solar eclipse passed through the western USA. The same questions can be asked about this type of eclipse.The "Atlas of Central Solar Eclipses in the USA" answers all of these questions. It contains of a comprehensive series of 499 global maps showing the geographic track of every single total and annular solar eclipse across the USA (including Alaska and Hawaii) during the two-thousand-year period 1001 through 3000. It is accompanied by a catalog that lists the major characteristics of each eclipse including its duration and whether it is visible from the lower 48 states, Alaska and/or Hawaii.Finally, a set of 20 detailed maps, each covering a 50 years and centered on the continental USA (i.e., the lower 48 states), shows the path of every central eclipse (total or annular). The maps include state boundaries as well as the location of major cities. This allows quick determination as to whether a particular eclipse was visible from any state or city in question. These maps also cover southern Canada and northern Mexico.There is something compelling about the pattern of eclipse tracks crossing familiar places many hundreds of years in the past and future. It was this fascination that inspired the creation of the Atlas.