A total solar eclipse plunged large areas of Latin America's southern cone into darkness Tuesday.

Total solar eclipses are rare, but this one occurred directly over an area prepared to study it.

Chile's Coquimbo region - with some of the planet's most powerful telescopes - is situated on the eclipse's 161-kilometer-wide "path of totality."

"Very rare, the whole of an eclipse is seen from an observatory," said Matias Jones, an astronomer at La Silla Observatory .

Both Chile and Argentina are situated under the narrow 9,656-kilometer-long band of Earth that experienced the eclipse.

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera said,"Today is a very important day and one we have waited a long time for.  We are the capital of the world in terms of astronomy, we are the eyes and the senses of humanity, being able to look, observe and study the stars and the Universe."

The next total eclipse visible in southern Chile will be on December 14, 2020.

AFP