Former BBC News correspondent Simon Hall reported from Alderney during the 1999 eclipse.
The third-largest Channel Island had some of the best views of the eclipse in the British Isles, despite some cloud cover.
More than 250 astronomers had gathered with islanders to watch the event.
Hall said: “Eclipse day in Alderney was a tease.
“From the start there was cloud and uncertainty about what we would see.”
He said the first half of the event was obscured by cloud which had helped to reduce the sun’s dazzle.
“At 11:00 the temperature dropped sharply when totality was approaching,” he said.
“The odds had been 50/50 but at 11:16, the moment of totality, the cloud cleared.”
The UK’s next total solar eclipse will not happen until 2090, according to Royal Museums Greenwich, external.
