'Ring of fire' eclipse crosses over Australia

SYDNEY // Skygazers across the Australian Outback watch as the moon glides between the Earth and the sun, blocking everything but a dazzling ring of light in a solar eclipse.

Today's "ring of fire" eclipse is the second solar eclipse visible from northern Australia in six months. In November, a total solar eclipse plunged the country's north-east into darkness, delighting astronomers and tourists who flocked to the region from across the world to witness it.

The eclipse is not considered nearly as scientifically important as November's, because the moon is too far from Earth to completely blackout the sun.

The eclipse began casting its 200-kilometre-wide shadow at dawn over Western Australia, before moving east through the Northern Territory and the top of Queensland state.