Sky gazers across the Emirates rose early on Thursday morning to witness a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse.

The celestial event is extremely rare - occurring in the UAE for the first time in 172 years - so residents were happy to miss out on some extra sleep to experience a slice of history.

People donned filtered, solar eclipse glasses to take in the impressive sight at a number of viewing centres dotted all over the country.

One of the best vantage points came at an event held by Dubai Astronomy Group at the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.Known as an annular solar eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun’s centre, leaving its edges to form a bright circle – sometimes known as a 'ring of fire'. This occurs when the moon is farthest from Earth.

The best time to view the eclipse, which lasts for about two hours in total, was said to be at roughly 7.38am.

“The disc of the moon will move in front of the sun but because of the moon’s distance from Earth, it will only partially cover it, causing a ring-type visual,” said Hasan Al Harari from Dubai Astronomy Group.

“Because of its rarity, this is quite a spectacular event. It does not happen as often as a total eclipse.”