View of total eclipse an 'experience of a lifetime,' says northern resident

Canadians in the Arctic were witness to a rare occurrence early Friday morning, a total solar eclipse that darkened the sky for about 43 seconds.

The total solar eclipse began at about 5:21 a.m. ET east of Cambridge Bay, sweeping north across southern Victoria Island, Prince of Wales Island, Northern Somerset Island and finally Ellesmere Island, where it could be viewed from Grise Fiord and later from the world's northernmost community at Alert.

"It was an experience of a lifetime," said Frank Edison, a native of Bridgewater, N.S., who has spent the last 15 summers working in Alert as a contractor hired to manage the quarry for the Department of National Defence. He took photos of the eclipse using a Canon Sureshot camera without any special lenses, and sent them to the CBC.

"I have never been here during the dark period and this gave me an idea as to what it would be like during the twilight periods," he told CBC News in an e-mail.