The sun was behind the clouds until 6:17 PM

We arrived at St. Croix in the evening of April 7, 2005. A solar eclipse was to begin at 5:20 PM local time on Friday April 8, 2005.

After a day of fun in the sun, including some beach going, we settled in at a good viewing place near the center of the island and waited for the big event. The clouds, however, seemed to have other plans. A large stationary cloud completely blocked the sun. I kept watch, hoping at least to see a colorful fringe around the cloud as the eclipse took place.

Suddenly, at about 6:17 PM the sky became bright just below the clouds. We were then treated to the eclipse as the sun set over the next 5 minutes.

The photos below were taken with a Canon PowerShot S1 IS, with the zoom set at 10X.

Click on the small image for a larger version.

To see more images from different locations, visit
http://www.spaceweather.com/eclipses/gallery_08apr05_page4.htm .

For more information about this eclipse, visit
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/HSE2005/PSE2005.html

Solar Eclipse 8 April 2005 viewed from St. Croix, USVI
6:17:20 PM USVI Time	6:17:30 PM USVI Time	6:17:36 PM USVI Time
6:17:44 PM USVI Time	6:18:22 PM USVI Time	6:18:56 PM USVI Time
6:19:00 PM USVI Time	6:19:20 PM USVI Time	6:19:24 PM USVI Time
6:19:28 PM USVI Time	6:19:44 PM USVI Time	6:20:12 PM USVI Time
6:20:24 PM USVI Time	6:21:24 PM USVI Time	6:48:12 PM USVI Time