Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012: Spectacular Pictures from the U.S. (PHOTOS)

On May 20, the U.S. witnessed what could remain as the year's most outstanding celestial event: the solar annular eclipse.

East Asia and cities such as Guangzhou and Tokyo were the first to catch a glimpse of the natural phenomenon.

Japanese natives were in general excited for the unusual event and many were seen atop high buildings in order to get the best angle possible. Unfortunate enough, however, their viewing was at various times obstructed by the cloudy weather.

The U.S., on the other hand, took advantage of good weather for the most part of the western half of the nation. Across many states, the sun was prevalent up above since the skies were pleasantly clear at first. In states such as Nevada, however, heavy clouds at various times obstructed completely the sight of eclipse. 

The partial phase of the eclipse began at about 6:18 p.m. PST and continued for more than an hour.

The following snapshots of video footage were taken on May 20, 2012 courtesy of the MacLean Observatory on the Redfield Campus of the University of Nevada.

The reason why the pictures appear dark is due to a special filter on the camera that allows less than 10 percent of light to go through. The special filter is requred to take clear shots of the eclipse.

Pictures will be updated every several minutes.