A solar eclipse yesterday inspired an unusual flight as a dozen “eclipse chasers” flew from the Island to catch a brief glimpse of the astrological event.

While only a partial eclipse was visible from the Island at around 7am, Longtail Aviation flew 12 people on a chartered flight 600 miles to the southwest of the Island to see the eclipse at its peak.

Ben Cooper, of Launch Photography, wrote on his website in order to catch the eclipse in totality, the plane had to cross its path at a 90-degree angle at the moment the shadow passed by.

“There was risk for our flight in being a hair off in timing and missing totality, but we did it,” he wrote.

Others took less extreme measures to witness the eclipse. Andrew Dobson said he and his daughter Fiona used a telescope to project the image of the eclipse so they could watch the event without risking injury.

“I have used the telescope to project the sun before for students,” he said. “Obviously you can’t look directly at the sun.

“What particularly impressed us when looking at the sun’s image projected on the card were the clearly defined sunspots, which are caused by areas of intense magnetic activity. It was certainly worth getting up early and missing out on the extra hour of sleep.

“My daughter thought it was really neat too. I think she really enjoyed it.”

Yesterday’s eclipse was an unusual hybrid of an annular eclipse and a total eclipse, switching between the two. A total eclipse occurs when the moon completely covers the sun, while an annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is further away from the Earth and does not block the sun out completely, instead leaving a halo of visible sunlight.

According to NASA, the greatest total eclipse occurred in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 205 miles south-west of Liberia, and lasted for more than one minute.

The eclipse was also visible in the Congos, northern Uganda and northern Kenya, ending in southern Ethiopia and Somalia.

Areas to the north and south, including Bermuda, were only able to see a partial eclipse, in which the moon covers only a section of the sun.

The next total solar eclipse will take place on March 20, 2015.

Useful website: http://www.launchphotography.com/Total_Solar_Eclipse_2013.html