The international Solar Wind Sherpas team, led by astronomer Shadia Habbal at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, observed the March 20 solar eclipse from Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago, located northeast of Greenland.

The researchers had to contend with constantly changing weather predictions, temperatures of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius) and the danger of polar bears. But thanks to preparation and perfectly clear conditions, the team successfully captured stunning shots of the solar corona, the envelope of ionized gas that surrounds the sun. [Sun Shots: Amazing Eclipse Images]

A team of scientists braved Arctic weather to successfully observe the total solar eclipse of March 20, 2015 from Longyearbyen on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago east of northern Greenland.
Credit: Miloslav Druckmüller, Shadia Habbal, Peter Aniol, and Pavel Starha. University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Svalbard has many microclimates, so to Svalbard has many microclimates, so to increase the chances of seeing the eclipse, the scientists observed it from two locations: inside the old Northern Light Observatory, and at an airport hangar 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.