ICUMI: SA skies see 2017's first Ring of Fire solar eclipse

[The Ga[M]er.]

Cape Town - SA was one of the lucky Southern Hemisphere countries that manage to catch a glimpse of 2017's first solar eclipse. 

SA stargazers who looked up on Sunday evening, between 17h00 and 19h00 were treated to a "ring of fire" solar eclipse - during which the Sun all but disappears as the Moon crosses its path.

SEE: Weekend Wrap: Vaal overflows, Solar eclipse hits SA and Rio carnival off to odd start

The ring of fire eclipse was most visible in a 100-kilometre (62-mile) band cutting through Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However the so-called annular solar eclipse, which occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun line up, allowed for people just outside the band of optimal viewing, to appear as a ring thicker on one side than the other.

 Lasting about two hours the Moon moved across the face of the Sun as South Africans shared their images of the experience on Twitter - take a look.  

SolarEclipse2017

According to the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, the year 2017 will see four eclipses, the usual amount for an annual period - made up of two of the Sun and two of the moon.  

The RASNZ says the first two have already been witnessed, with a Transits Penumbral eclipse (where the earth casts a partial shadow between the moon and sun) on February 11 and Sunday's annular eclipse of the Sun 2017. Upcoming eclipses will only take place later this year in the months of August when a partial eclipse of the Moon is expected on August 7 and a Total eclipse of the Sun with take place on August 21, 2017.

ALSO SEE: Weird weather: SA's most extreme weather events of 2016

South Africa, no stranger to outstanding astronomical occurrences, recently experienced a Super Moon of note. In fact it was the biggest Supermoon in 68 years - seen over SA on November 14th.  While some captured a few magical shots and experiences of the moon as it was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual - the closest it was to earth since 1948.  Some people certainly felt the anticipation had left them feeling slightly cheated. The phenomenon also caused a pretty intense spring tide, which resulted in gigantic waves such as this!