LOOK: Partial solar eclipse visible in NJ during sunrise Thursday

It may have looked like a thing of beauty or, depending on your point of view, an apocalyptic omen.

We're talking about the partial solar eclipse visible on the horizon as the sun came up Thursday morning.

The eclipse was caused by the Earth's moon passing in front of the sun, which made the sun look like a glowing yellow crescent moon.

According to NASA, the moon was far enough way from the Earth that it appeared smaller than the sun, creating a "ring of fire" look as the moon passes just through the center. Only people in the more northern reaches of the hemisphere such as Canada and Russia were able to see that ring. The rest of us just saw the partial eclipse, which was just as fascinating.

Here was a live look at the eclipse from North Wildwood this morning: