'Ring of Fire' eclipse offers an excellent treat to stargazers in Africa!

New Delhi: Many stargazers and intrigued people in parts of Africa came out to observe the spectacle of the 'ring of fire' annular eclipse.

People were treated to a stunning view when the eclipse shone in the sky on Thursday as the moon glided between the sun and Earth.

The "ring of fire" eclipse began a little after 2 a.m. EDT, and ended around 8 a.m. EDT, according to Space.com.

As per NASA, the eclipse was visible in the Republic of Congo, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique. However, the best views were seen in Tanzania, where the event lasted about three minutes.

It didn't take long for social media platforms to get flooded with images of the beautiful event. Instagram and Twitter soon experienced an outpour of lovely photographs.

As per NASA, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States from coast to coast on August 21, 2017. It will be the first total eclipse visible only in the USA since the country was founded in 1776.

Check out some of the images posted by many awestruck stargazers on social media!

@OneRepublic Solar eclipse visible in photo halo..... Taken 10 minutes ago in Johannesburg. pic.twitter.com/T1dBo1iz4p — South Africa ❤ 1R (@OneRepublicRSA) September 1, 2016

Solar #eclipse visible across much of central and southern Africa pic.twitter.com/yxlUKw6vwg — Pádraic (@kudupadraic) September 1, 2016