Solar Eclipse 'Ring Of Fire' Viewed Worldwide

People all over the globe Sunday got a view of a rare solar eclipse -- some in person, some online.

The "ring of fire" phenomenon had people gathering in locales ranging from Japan's Mount Fuji, to the alien-hunting Allen Telescope Array in California, to the ancient Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico, according to media reports.

Of course, there was lots of chatter on Twitter, and much photo sharing on Facebook and Flickr.

It marked the first time in 18 years that an annular solar eclipse could be seen from the United States. Such eclipses occur when the moon is too far away in its elliptical orbit to cover the sun's disk completely, as seen from Earth.

The sliver of sunshine traveled southeast across central Nevada, southern Utah and northern Arizona, and then New Mexico. It passed over Albuquerque, NM, about 7:34 p.m. (9:34 p.m. ET) before petering out east of Lubbock, Texas, according to NASA.

Some examples of photos.information shared on Twitter:

Via @KXAN_News: Not a bad view view of the #solareclipse from Mount Bonnell. Thanks for the picture, Sydney Jones. http://yfrog.com/ob5mhsoj

Via @robmayeda: 6:20pm Gorgeous crescent Sun nearing 75-80% coverage over the Bay Area. #solareclipse #nbcbayarea http://pic.twitter.com/7c5Oiv8j

Via @NASA_GoddardPix: a photo-sharing blog on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/2012annulareclipse/pool/

Did you watch the solar eclipse? Share your thoughts and pics here.