IN PHOTOS: March 9 solar eclipse
TOTAL ECLIPSE. A total solar eclipse is pictured from the city of Ternate, in Indonesia's Maluku Islands, on March 9, 2016. Bay Ismoyo/AFP
MANILA, Philippines – Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, became captivated by the rare total solar eclipse in the region on Wednesday, March 9.
Total eclipses occur when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, and the three bodies align precisely.
As seen from Earth, the moon is just broad enough to cover the solar face, creating a breath-taking silver halo in an indigo sky.
People across the region, from Myanmar to Singapore to Cambodia and especially Indonesia – where the total solar eclipse swept across 12 out of 34 provinces – witnessed the celestial spectacle.
Here are photos from this year's lone total solar eclipse event.
GOLDEN SUNRISE. A partial solar eclipse is seen in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 9, 2016. Hein Htet/EPA
EAGER CROWD. Indonesian residents wearing eclipse glasses look up at the sun during a solar eclipse outside the planetarium in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 9, 2016. Mast Irham/EPA
THE FLYER AND THE SUN. A partial solar eclipse is seen above cabins of the Singapore Flyer at dawn in Singapore, March 9, 2016. Wallace Woon/EPA
THROUGH THE TELESCOPE. An Indonesian young girl looks up at the sun through a telescope during a solar eclipse outside the planetarium in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 9, 2016. Mast Irham/EPA
CAMBODIANS' VIEW. A partial solar eclipse is seen on the Independence monument in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 9, 2016. MAK REMISSA/EPA
- Photos from European Pressphoto Agency and Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com
