Total eclipses are caused when the moon moves directly between the sun and the earth, covering it completely to cast a shadow on earth. Today Millions of People turned their eyes skyward to see the total solar eclipse, which dawn suddenly turned to darkness across the continent in the longest total solar eclipse this century will see. Millions of others, fearing a bad omen, shuttered themselves indoors. Chinese launched fireworks and danced in Shanghai. And in India, a woman was crushed as thousands of viewers crowded the banks of the Ganges for a glimpse. Cloudy skies and rain damped the…