EXMOUTH, Australia - A rare solar eclipse plunged part of Australia’s northwest coast into brief midday darkness Thursday.The remote tourist town of Exmouth, with fewer than 3,000 residents, was promoted as one of the best vantage points in Australia to see the eclipse that also crossed remote parts of Indonesia and East Timor.Joy Daniels captured the moment from her viewing spot in Exmouth, while Luke Riley from the boat tour agency Sail Ningaloo shared timelapse footage from the same town.READ MORE: Countdown is on: 1 year away until the Great North American Solar Eclipse"It’s getting so dark; we have totality.
Can you hear the birds? They are going crazy," Daniels says in her video.An international crowd had been gathering for days, camping in tents and trailers on a red, dusty plain on the edge of town with cameras and other viewing equipment pointed skyward.The hybrid solar eclipse tracked from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and was mostly over water.
The lucky few people in its path either saw the darkness of a total eclipse or a "ring of fire" as the sun peeked from behind the new moon.Rare hybrid solar eclipse in Australia Such celestial events happen about once every decade: The last one was in 2013 and the next one isn’t until 2031.
They occur when Earth is in the "sweet spot" so the moon and the sun are almost the exact same size in the sky, said NASA solar expert Michael Kirk.READ MORE: Lyrid meteor shower: When it peaks and how to watch itAt some points, the moon is a little closer and blocks out the sun in a total eclipse.