Southeast Asia experiences rare total solar eclipse

A partial solar eclipse is pictured above a cloud formation at dawn in Singapore, March 9, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Thousands of astronomy enthusiasts flocked to Indonesia this week to catch a total solar eclipse lasting 249 seconds, which was also visible in some southern parts of China on Wednesday.

Although only some parts of Indonesia could see the sun totally eclipsed by the moon early on Wednesday, parts of Australia and Southeast Asia enjoyed a partial solar eclipse.

Beginning from the Northeast part of the Indian Ocean, the total solar eclipse covered Indonesia and some islands in the Western Pacific, up to the Northeast part of the Pacific.