Singapore, Dec 26 (AFP/APP): Skywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to India and Singapore were treated to a rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse Thursday. Annular eclipses occur when the Moon is not close enough to the Earth to completely obscure the Sun, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible. While these types of eclipses occur every year or two, they are only visible from a narrow band of Earth each time and it can be decades before the same pattern is repeated. Depending on weather conditions, this year’s astronomical phenomenon was set to be visible from the Middle East across southern India and Southeast Asia before ending over the northern Pacific. Hundreds of amateur astronomers, photographers and set up by Singapore’s harbour for what some described as a “once in a lifetime” event. “The next one will happen in about 40 years I think,” said Jason Teng, 37, who took the day off work to photograph the eclipse. The amateur astronomer used a special solar filter on his telescope as there is no safe period to observe an annular solar eclipse. Alexander Alin 45, a geophysicist from Germany, travels around the world following eclipses. “It’s only two … Continue reading ‘Ring of fire’ eclipse wows across Asia