Photographer captures jaw-dropping images of annular solar eclipse

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A British astrophotographer has captured a jaw-dropping scene of the annular solar eclipse on Easter Island.

Josh Dury traveled to the remote Pacific Ocean territory to document Thursday's (3 Oct) spectacle.

Setting his camera equipment up in front of one of the island's iconic Moai human figure statues, Josh shot for three hours from 12:23 p.m. local time.

The finished scene was created from a number of pictures captured at the single location using a combination of filters and focal lengths.

Josh was then able to blend 21 images into a single frame using digital processing techniques.

The 26-year-old, from Compton Martin, says: "This is known as an Annular Solar Eclipse - where the Moon appears smaller than the Sun in its alignment.

"From astronomical records, this is the last ‘dramatic’ celestial event to take place over the island in 300 years."

An annular solar eclipse sees the Moon pass in front of the Sun, casting its shadow across parts of Earth.

The event was visible in parts of South America, and a partial solar eclipse could be seen in parts of South America, North America, and the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii.