‘Ring of fire’ eclipse darkens skies in South America: See photos

Earlier Wednesday, the annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse darkened skies in various parts of the world. 

The annular (or ring-shaped) solar eclipse was the most observable from South America, though residents of at least one U.S. state got the chance to catch a glimpse. 

Occurring when the moon is at its farthest position from the sun, an annular eclipse does not produce a complete blackout and instead creates and ring light effect, hence the “ring of fire.”

Only residents of Hawaii got the chance to see this phenomenon in the U.S. Only 175,000 people lived in the path of annularity this time around, with an estimated 245 million people living in the partial sight-line.

Pictures from South America show the beautiful phenomenon of darkening skies.

‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse: See photos