Tech – Metro | ‘Ring of Fire’ solar eclipse stuns skywatchers around the world on Boxing Day

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 (Reuters)

The last solar eclipse of the decade took place on Boxing Day and thousands were treated to a spectacular view of the 'Ring of Fire'.

Unfortunately the eclipse wasn't visible here in the UK, but skywatchers in the likes of Saudi Arabia, Singapore and southern India were treated to the full effect.

Others in western Australia, most of Asia and parts of northeast Africa also got to see a partial eclipse.

Those in the so-called 'path of totality' got to see the full eclipse for around three minutes as the moon passed in front of the sun, blocking out the daylight.

Even though we weren't able to see the Ring of Fire in the UK, we can marvel at some of the impressive pictures caught by those who witnessed it.

The solar eclipse is seen in Manama, Bahrain on December 26, 2019. (Ayman Yaqoob/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The moon passes between the sun and the earth during an annular solar eclipse in Madinat Zayed in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi (Reuters/Christopher Pike)

Another impressive picture from Bahrain on December 26, 2019. (Ayman Yaqoob/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Ring of Fire as seen from the south Indian city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu state (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP) (Arun Sankara/AFP via Getty Images)

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were able to watch as the moon's shadow crept across the surface of the Earth.

The shadow of the moon passing over the Earth (Twitter/@Astro_Jessica)

'Here's what today's annular solar eclipse (when the Moon is in line in between Earth and the Sun) looked like from @Space_Station,' NASA astronaut Jessica Meir wrote in a Twitter post from the ISS.

'We saw the shadow of the Moon on the Earth below, just above the horizon (central gray area above horizon).'

According to Nasa: 'In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a ring of fire.'

We won't see a solar eclipse over Europe until 2026.

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