A solar eclipse at midnight? It's not only possible, it actually happened last night. On June 1st, the new Moon passed in front of the midnight sun above the Arctic circle, producing a partial eclipse of exquisite beauty. Bernt Olsen photographed the event from Sommarøy, Tromsø, Norway:

Midnight Eclipse
© Bernt OlsenImage Taken: Jun 1, 2011
Location: Sommarøy, Tromsø, Norway
"A rain shower threatened to spoil the show, but just before midnight the clouds parted and I got a fairly clear shot of the eclipse," says Olsen. "I'm glad I did, because we won't experience an eclipse like this again for 73 years."

Midnight Eclipse_1
© Bernt Olsen

More Images
From Kulkova Svetlana of Bratsk, Russia; from Travis Stagg of Fairbanks Alaska; from B.Art Braafhart of Sallatunturi, Finnish Lapland; from Thomas Hagen of Tromsø, Norway; from Johan Kero of Bergfors, Kiruna, Sweden; from Joerg Schoppmeyer of Akureyri, Iceland;