Parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka on Thursday witnessed an annular solar eclipse, in which the moon is not close enough to the earth to completely obscure the sun and leaves a thin ring of the solar disc visible.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that though he could not witness the solar eclipse due to the cloud cover in Delhi, he managed to catch a glimpse of it in Kozhikode through a live stream.

Depending on weather conditions, this year’s astronomical phenomenon will be visible from the Middle East across southern India and Southeast Asia before ending over the northern Pacific. Skywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to India and Singapore were treated to the rare eclipse.

Here are the photos of the solar eclipse:

The moon covers the sun in a rare solar eclipse as seen from the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu on Thursday. (Credit: Arun Sankar/AFP)
The moon totally covers the sun in a rare solar eclipse as seen from the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. (Credit: Arun Sankar/AFP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks towards the sky to catch a glimpse of an annular solar eclipse in New Delhi on Thursday. (Credit: PTI)
Annular solar eclipse occurs over the skies of Cheruvathur town in the southern state of Kerala. (Credit: Sivaram V/Reuters)
Children use solar viewers to watch annular solar eclipse in Ahmedabad. (Credit: Amit Dave/Reuters)
People take photos with their smartphones as they monitor the annular solar eclipse on Jabal Arba (Four Mountains) in Hofuf, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia on Thursday. (Credit: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuter)
A group of friends meditate as the moon moves in front of the sun during the solar eclipse in Singapore on Thursday. (Credit: Louis Kwok/AFP)
Boys wearing special protective glasses lie on a wooden board as they observe the annular solar eclipse in Siak, Riau province, Indonesia. (Credit: Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)