For the first time since 2010, the moon completely blocked out the sun in a rare total solar eclipse today briefly over northern Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean according to Space.com.
Overall the moon eclipsed the sun completely for just two minutes, but the total phase lasted just three hours.
The eclipse started around sunrise local time in Cairns, Australia which attracted nearly 50,000 people from all over the world. It was the first solar eclipse to take place in Australia in over a decade.
Click here to view photos of the eclipse on Space.com.
"Total eclipses are one of the most dramatic sites that you can ever see," said Terry Cuttle of the Astronomical Association of Queensland to the Associated Press, who has seen a dozen of them over the years. "I reckon everybody owes it to themselves to see at least one total eclipse in their life."
The moon's shadow completely swept over the southeast, crossing from the Gulf of Carpentaria into Queensland according to Yahoo. It then headed over the Pacific Ocean where those who were near by could see the eclipse first hand.
The eclipse took place approximately 3:35 p.m. in U.S. time but it was technically Wednesday, Nov. 14 already in Australia.
NASA spokesman Josh Byerly told SPACE.com today there was a small window in which the moon's shadow on Earth could be visible from the International Space Station during the eclipse, but the outpost's six-person crew was scheduled to be sleeping at that time.
The end of the solar eclipse came at approximately 6:48 p.m. today when the moon's shadow "petered out" 610 miles west of Chile according to Space.com. The next eclipse isn't schedule to occur again until March 2015.
In November 2013, a "hybrid" eclipse will occur which consists of a total eclipse at certain points around the world and an annular at other countries near the Atlantic and central Africa.
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