Amazing time-lapse video shows total solar eclipse in Australia

Amazing time-lapse video show total solar eclipse in Australia AFP

More than 60,000 people headed to beaches across north Queensland to witness the first total solar eclipse in the region for more than 1,300 years. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Clouds in the area had threatened to ruin the view of the amazing natural phenomenon, but huge cheers erupted when the clouds parted to reveal the total eclipse that plunged the area into darkness.

Starting just after dawn, the eclipse cast its 150-kilometre (95-mile) shadow in Australia's Northern Territory, crossed the northeast tip of the country and was swooping east across the South Pacific, where no islands are in its direct path.

Totality lasted just over two minutes from 6.38am local time.

Amazing time-lapse video show total solar eclipse in Australia AFP/Getty

The stunning spectacle attracted thousands of eclipse tourists to Queensland with the state government estimating that 50,000 to 60,000 people made the trip.

According to the Daily Telegraph, they included three charter flights with 1,200 scientists from Japan, while six cruise ships were moored off the coast, hot air balloons dotted the skies, and people crammed on scuba diving boats and tour boats to get their pics.

One man, Hank Harper, 61, and his two children, flew all the way from Los Angeles just to see the eclipse, and thought the clouds would ruin their adventure.

The three of joined other tourists and staff from Hot Air Balloon Cairns, and held their breath for a great view.

He told the Daily Mail: "We gambled everything - drove through the rain and didn't even know if the balloon was going to go up. It was everything I could have hoped for."

Amazing time-lapse video show total solar eclipse in Australia AFP/Getty

Accommodation in the area was also solidly booked, from five-star hotels to campsites.

One tourist said: "It was absolutely nerve-wrecking right up until the last minute, and then Queensland delivered."

Another witness said: "Absolutely amazing, and then more. I think I just feel tiny. I feel like a little ant, insignificant. You know, you see the movement of the Earth, and it's just... wow."

And another onlooker said: "The oohs and the aahs, the tears and the cheers, it was absolutely everything we hoped it would be, so we're very happy."

An eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, which darkens the sky and causes temperatures to drop.

See the time-lapse footage of the eclipse over Queensland here:

Weird weather and strange phenomena around the world

Tornados, USA
 Tornados have been ripping through parts of the USA at an alarming rate during 2011. This example was captured on camera in Limestone County, Alabama, in April. A tornado is a violent, rotating column of air that it is contact with a cumulonimbus cloud and the ground. Also called twisters, they’re characterised by the condensation funnel that touches the earth, and are surrounded by clouds of dust or debris.
Frozen canal, Scotland
 On 11 January, 2010, two pranksters decided to drive their car along the frozen Union Canal in Winchburgh, West Lothian, Scotland. Unfortunately for them, the thaw had already started to set in. The canal froze solid during he longest spell of freezing weather in the UK for almost 30 years.
Dust storm, India
 This dust storm engulfed the desert city of Bikaner, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan on 2 April, 2010. The town was already broiling in temperatures of 39C. Dust storms happen when strong wind carries loose sand and dust away from one area and deposits it in another.
Northern Lights, Alaska
 This image of the Northern lights was captured in the Takotna, Alaska checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March 2011. Occurring just within the Arctic and Antarctic circles, the Northern lights – or Aurora borealis, to give them their Latin name – are the light display in the sky caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field.
Rainbow, UK
 This impressive rainbow resulted from a spectacular storm and was photographed in Brandon Hill Park near Clifton, Bristol, in the UK on 27 August, 2010. The rainbow seems to rise from the top of Cabot Tower - which is itself 105ft tall - showing its immense scale. Rainbows are an optical phenomenon that occur when the sun shines on to moisture droplets in the atmosphere.
Freezing rain, USA
 This set of footprints in freezing rain was snapped in Lexington, Kentucky, USA on 16 December, 2010. Rain that falls and becomes ‘supercooled’ when surface temperatures are below freezing point can freeze on impact with anything it touches, unlike snow which remains only partially frozen. The resulting ice is known as glaze. Freezing rain is one of the deadliest weather conditions, bringing down power line and causing numerous road traffic accidents and personal injury.
Smog, Russia
 This example of smog was pictured hanging over Moscow, on 7 August, 2010, and was caused by the billowing smoke from peat bog and forest fires. Smog was originally a description of the pollution resulting from factory smoke and fog in the 1900s. Today it’s more often caused when sunlight reacts with car exhaust, coal power plants or factory emissions and the compounds released from petrol, paints and solvents.
Hurricane, Porto Rico
 This crashing wave was caused by the approaching of the Hurricane Earl in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, in August, 2010. Earl battered some islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and roof-ripping winds, rapidly intensifying into a major storm on a path projected to menace the United States. Hurricanes are triggered by low pressure areas forming over warm ocean waters.
Supermoon, around the world
 In March 2011, the 'supermoon' was the closest it had been to earth for18 years lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. This snap was taken from Huntington Beach in Los Angeles.
Rainstorms, China
 Rainstorms come and go, but not usually as dramatically as this downpour which completely flooded the town of Wuzhou in southwest China on 9 June, 2010, proving that the trusty umbrella isn’t always protection enough...
Volcanic ash cloud, Iceland
 Ash covered everything for thousands of miles after the eruption of Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano in May 2011 sent clouds of ash high into the air, carrying it toward the European continent on the wind, disrupting flights for the second time in less than a year.
Lightning, Zurich
 This magnificent lightning strike hit a tower during a thunderstorm in Zurich, Switzerland on 12 August, 2010. Lightning occurs when the balance between the negative charge of storm clouds and the positive charge of the earth is redressed by a current passing between the two - with literally stunning results.
Sun halo, Arctic circle
 This halo around the sun was photographed  on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Circle on 19 April, 2011. These halos - spectacular and eerie at the same time - are caused by ice crystals in high clouds. They tend to occur during the summer months, during ‘midnight sun’ season in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.