All over the island of Aruba, people came out to the beach or to the pool shortly after noon to watch the eclipse. At first we feared the clouds would ruin the show. But at about 1 p.m. the sky cleared up.

    There was a lot of tension before the total solar eclipse as the scientists prepared for their experiments. For instructor Steve Martin, it was his first eclipse and he did not know what to expect. People were just amazed with what they saw.

    After putting on my special "eclipse glasses,'' I stood on the sand with hundreds of other people. Then, we saw it -- a little chunk appeared to be missing from the right side of the sun. It looked as if someone took a bite out of a shiny, yellow cookie. Slowly, the bite got bigger and bigger.

    At about 2 p.m., the sun was only a tiny sliver. The sky grew darker. Shadows got deeper. The birds started singing as if night was near. Lights came on in all the buildings. It was hard to believe this was the middle of the day

     Finally, at 2:09 p.m. the sun was gone! For three minutes, it was safe to remove our eclipse glasses. I looked up and saw something I will never forget. A big, black spot sat over the sun. All around the spot were things that looked like flames—the corona. The sky became almost as dark as night. Around the sun, you could see Jupiter and Mercury shining brightly. People cheered and you could hear fireworks going off in the distance. This was a moving, unforgettable experience.

    Slowly, the sun starting coming back. A few minutes after Aruba was plunged into darkness, the day returned.

    At the last moment, just before totality, there were a few problems with the telescope for Professor Pasachoff's main temperature experiment. But his other two experiments (Photographing the corona and Looking at the corona at ultraviolet wavelengths) went perfectly. We will bring you more information as it comes in!

    Email the students of the International School of Aruba and find out what they saw during the eclipse! Their teacher, Paul Napier, is waiting to pass the messages to the right age group student. They promise to respond to you!