SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- The last annular solar eclipse of the millennium was visible over parts of Australia on Tuesday, producing a celestial show that some Aboriginal tribes believe means the sun has caught up with the moon after a passionate courtship.

The partial solar eclipse began at about 5:40 p.m. (0640 GMT) with the moon appearing to nip a bite out of the sun.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blotting out the sunlight. In a total eclipse, the "disk" of the moon covers up the sun completely. In an annular eclipse, the moon blots out 98 percent of the sun, leaving a ring of sunlight visible around the dark lunar disk.

At the beginning and end of annularity, the sunlight streaking out from behind the disk can resemble a pearl-beaded necklace, an effect known as "Bailey's Beads."

The length of the entire path of annularity was about 8,494 miles (13,700 kilometers), crossing into southwestern Australia about 186 miles (300 kilometers) north of Perth.

Hundreds of astronomers traveled north of Perth in Western Australia to train their telescopes on the sky to observe the dramatic "ring of fire" when more than 99 percent of the sun was eclipsed.

Australian Aborigines believe a solar eclipse is an event of deep cosmological significance.

Arunta Aborigines from the central desert region believe the moon is associated with love and fertility. Girls are warned not to look at the moon if they don't want to become pregnant.

The Arunta believe the sun is in love with the Moon and pursues it across the sky each day. An eclipse happens when the sun catches its longed-for lover and their rare union occurs, an event worthy of great celebration.

In Perth, 90 percent of the sun was obscured, while in Sydney, the moon covered 56 percent of the sun.

Peter Birch from the Perth Observatory traveled to the Hampton Arms pub 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Geraldton to watch the eclipse with other astronomers from the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Germany.

He said thousands of amateur skygazers joined 300 to 400 astronomers in the fields around the pub.

"The moon went completely inside the sun, all we could see was a ring of light," he said. "It got quite cold, the atmosphere went an orangy, yellowy shade."

Partial eclipses usually occur every one to two years, although the next is not expected until December 4, 2002.

The century's last total solar eclipse will occur on August 11 and will be visible from Europe and West Asia.