A rare solar eclipse enthralled Europe this week as crowds packed Paris to look skyward with special glasses for a glimpse of the otherworldly moment when the moon came between the Earth and the sun.

Unfortunately, clouds covered much of Northern Europe making it difficult for many to catch a glimpse of the event, including in the Faroe Islands, which was to experience a total eclipse, according to a New York Times report.

Eclipses are typically only visible in certain parts of the planet, and continental Europe won’t get another view of one until 2026, scientists say.

Meanwhile, the eclipse caused some practical problems here on Earth, particularly in Germany where energy providers produce 6 percent of their output from solar sources, and the sudden blockage of the sun risked causing a two-minute jolt to the system that would be difficult to recover from. Fortunately, there weren’t any reports of any big problems, and the operators of the grids had been able to deal with the loss of power.

It wasn’t easy, however, for electrical grids to handle the two and a half hour eclipse, as massive drops in energy supply had to be managed, according to a Reuters report.

Germany, which has the world’s largest solar-powered installation, was the most affected. It produces 38.2 gigawatts of the 89 available European solar capacity. Operators experienced about a 15 GW drop in Germany, which was less than feared and allowed them to use alternate power sources to make up the difference.

The last eclipse in Europe was in 2003, and solar power output has greatly expanded since then.

Total Germany output was just 6.2 GW when the eclipse took place, and within an hour it had regained the 15 GW it had lost. Fortunately, the operators knew the eclipse was coming for many months and had been making preparations, doubling staff levels to handle the day’s work.

In the UK, while solar output was expected to drop by 850 megawatts, a lot of people would be outside during the event, thus decreasing the energy needs and making the impact minimal.

Other countries had their own ways of dealing with the mini-crisis. Spain raised reserve levels and big consumers of electricity were likely disconnected briefly. In Italy, an operator shut off 30 percent of solar capacity and used other sources to make up the difference. That resulted in an uptick in energy prices.

Other grid managers in Europe said they had a handle on the eclipse.

The eclipse posed some health risks to the public, as those who are curious may be tempted to look directly at the sun, which is ill-advised and can cause real damage to the eyes even with sunglasses on. However, many either ignored the warnings or used special viewing devices to protect their eyes.

It’s rare for such a large portion of the Earth to see even a partial eclipse, making the event that much more extraordinary. Outside of Europe, portions of the Middle East and North Africa were also able to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. Many times, eclipses are only viewable in remote, uninhabited portions of the world or in the middle of the sea, not over large swaths of heavily populated Europe — although the clouds spoiled the show for many.

However, many were disappointed at the event, which had been greatly hyped up in an era of social media, with many noting that the eclipse was eclipsed by the 1999 eclipse, and that this one barely caused any darkness.

That was because it was a partial eclipse, and only remote portions of the Northern Hemisphere got to see a total eclipse. Video from Norway in the Arctic Ocean was taken by scientists showing the moon’s shadow closing off the rays of the sun, with only a bright ring around the moon to show that it was still there.

Solar eclipses are an interesting phenomenon that are actually of great use to historians. Because they are predictable events, historians can take references to dramatic solar eclipses in ancient writings and use those references to date exactly what time period the writings are from. For example, a solar eclipse that happened in 763 BC was mentioned in an Assyrian text. In one gruesome case, two Chinese astronomers lost their heads after failing to predict an eclipse for Emperor Zhong Kang.

We know what eclipses are today, but ancient peoples often interpreted eclipses as omens from their gods, with Greek historian Herodotus writing that an eclipse happened during a war, and both sides declared peace as a result.

Perhaps the most famous eclipse story didn’t involve the sun, but rather a lunar eclipse. Christopher Columbus tricked the natives of Jamaica into providing him with supplies by correctly predicting a lunar eclipse in 1504 using the writings of a German astronomer. He told their leader that his god was angry at the natives’ treatment of Columbus and would making the moon appear “inflamed with wrath,” frightening the natives into submission when it came true.