Residents across Brown County took their positions Sunday evening to try and get a look at a rare solar eclipse.

The eclipse is known as an annular solar eclipse and was the first of its kind to be widely visible from much of the United States since 1994. Annular eclipses only occur when the moon is at a point in its orbit that is too far from Earth to completely block the sun’s disk. The result is a ring-like, or annulus, effect that is visible to observers lucky enough to be in the path of the eclipse’s shadow.

Unfortunately for local observers, the sun set before the moon completely moved in front of the sun, but the partial eclipse was still a dazzling sight.   Vehicles and spectators could be seen along several highways in Brown County getting a look at the eclipse and taking photographs.  Clouds were also a bit of an issue as the sun set, blocking visibility for some.

The next total eclipse of the sun for the continental United States is not until Aug. 21, 2017.

The photo at top was taken from the Bill Monroe overpass just before sunset as the eclipse began.