"How amazing to see the ring of fire when the sun disappeared slowly." Photo / AP
People along a swath of southern Asia gazed at the sky in marvel on Thursday at a "ring of fire" solar eclipse.
The so-called annular eclipse, in which a thin outer ring of the sun is still visible, could be seen along a path stretching from India and Pakistan to Thailand and Indonesia.
LOOK: The #SolarEclipse has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka as the moon slowly covers the surface of the Sun. Here in the Philippines, the Partial Eclipse will begin at past 12 NN.
Authorities in Indonesia provided telescopes and hundreds of special glasses to protect viewers' eyes. Thousands of people gazed at the sky and cheered and clapped as the sun transformed into a dark orb for more than two minutes, briefly plunging the sky into darkness. Hundreds of others prayed at nearby mosques.
Truly, the beautiful solar eclipses are rare events for many, but if you will UNSAFELY look at the sun during an eclipse, they can truly be just once-in-a-lifetime for your eyes!!!
"How amazing to see the ring of fire when the sun disappeared slowly," said Firman Syahrizal, a resident of Sinabang in Indonesia's Banda Aceh province who witnessed the eclipse with his family.