Thousands of tourists turned out to see a stunning total solar eclipse as day turned into night in front of their eyes.
These stunning images from Chile, South America, show what happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, plunging viewers into darkness.
The incredible phenomena happens only rarely in any given spot across the globe.
More than 100,000 tourists traveled to the popular lakeside villages of Pucon and Villarica, as well as to several beach communities along the central Pacific coast to view the eclipse, braving a recent increase in cases of Covid-19.
As the scene turned dark, the only light was from the mobile phones of those in attendance.
Though the clouds made viewing difficult, the moon completely obscured the sun across a narrow, 56 mile band of Argentina and Chile around 1pm local time (1600 GMT), to the cheers and applause of parka-clad tourists that stood out in the rain to watch the rare astronomical event.
Chile isn't due to see another total solar eclipse for another 28 years.
"It was incredibly strange, all of a sudden it began to get dark, just like that," said Chilean tourist Vicente Bustamante, who said the experience was worthwhile even without seeing the eclipse itself.
The best viewing took place in Chile's drier north, where citizens of the capital Santiago poured out on to the streets under clear skies to watch the moon partially overtake the sun.
Chile saw another full solar eclipse in its northern desert in July of 2019, the first in that region since 1592, according to the Chilean Astronomy Society.
