People have gazed at the sky in wonder and cheered while others have knelt in prayer as a total eclipse of the sun unfolded over Indonesia, briefly plunging cities into darkness and startling wildlife.
The rare astronomical phenomenon was witnessed along a narrow path that stretched across 12 Indonesian provinces, encompassing three time zones and about 40 million people on Wednesday.
A partial eclipse was visible in other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, a swath of Asia and in northern Australia.
Thousands of eclipse chasers flocked to Indonesia from abroad and the government, which has been promoting the event for more than a year, forecast a substantial tourism boost.
Some tour groups chartered ships to view the eclipse, which began in the Indian Ocean and ended in the Pacific, at sea.
A dozen Americans joined a commercial flight from Anchorage, Alaska to Honolulu because its flight path would rendezvous with an eclipse sweet spot north of Hawaii.
Thousands of men, women and children gathered in Sigi Biromaru, a hilltop town of Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, shouting and clapping as the sun transformed into a dark orb for more than two minutes. Hundreds of others prayed at nearby mosques.
"The sun totally disappeared. How amazing this sunny morning suddenly changed to dark," said Junaz Amir, a Sigi resident who witnessed the eclipse with his family using protective glasses.
In Ternate, one of the last cities in the eclipse's path, some residents said they were viewing it by looking at the reflected image in bowls of water.
Experts say the total eclipse can be viewed with the naked eye but specific filters should be used during its partial phases to avoid permanent damage to the retina.
Most eclipses are partial but when the moon is close enough to the earth, the sun is completely eclipsed by the moon's shadow and only a spectacular ring of rays known as the corona is visible.
The last time a total eclipse occurred over Indonesia was in 1988. Unfounded fears and misinformation caused panic, with people papering windows and keeping children indoors.
The entire eclipse, which began with the first patch of darkness appearing on the edge of the sun, lasted about three hours.
For the viewer, the length of time the sun was totally eclipsed depended on their location along the path.
On land the duration was mostly between one and three minutes.
Eclipse attracts Australian, Indonesian star gazers
Thousands of astronomy enthusiasts have flocked to Indonesia to catch the country's first total solar eclipse in nearly 33 years while neighboring countries Singapore and Australia received partial views.
People in northern Queensland partially saw the eclipse, while it's also visible in areas of the western Australia and Northern Territory.
The phenomenon has brought many tourists to Indonesia, with events such as music festivals and night markets organised around it.
"We accommodated tourists as far as our capacity allowed," said Muhaimin Ramza, manager of the Aston Hotel, one of several hotels that are booked out in the city of Palembang on Indonesia's western island of Sumatra.
Despite having tourist potential beyond the popular resort island of Bali, the vast archipelago struggles with poor connectivity and infrastructure.
Nearly 10 million tourists visited Indonesia last year and the government hopes to double that number by 2019.
But January arrivals of foreign tourists were up only about 2 per cent over last year.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon casts a shadow on the earth as it passes between the earth and the sun.
A partial solar eclipse, more frequent than total eclipses, is when the earth passes within the penumbra of the moon.
The last total solar eclipse, in March 2015, was only visible from near the North Pole.
Indonesia last experienced a total eclipse in 1983 and will have to wait another 33 years for the next, the country's meteorological agency says.
