Aussies are in for a treat next month when a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Australia for the first time in 10 years.
On April 20, 2023, lucky sky-gazers will notice a giant black hole where the sun should be. Unfortunately, to experience this total solar eclipse, you’ll need to be in Western Australia.
Speaking to Broadsheet, astronomer Andrew Jacob, a curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, says: “You look up where the sun is – where life-giving heat is provided, which has always been there every day of your life – and suddenly there’s this jet-black hole surrounded by this ghostly white corona. It’s terrifying.”
How does a solar eclipse occur?
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, creating a shadow and blocking the sun’s light.
Where will the total solar eclipse be on April 20 in Australia?
The path of totality is the area beneath the shadow created by the moon where the eclipse is visible from Earth. The only place on that path for the upcoming total eclipse is the town of Exmouth in Western Australia.
For everyone else in Australia, you’ll see a partial eclipse.
“The rest of Australia will see a partial eclipse, like a bite taken out of the sun,” Jacob says. “The moon is moving gradually across the sun, but for most of Australia, it [won’t] cover the whole sun.”
What time will the 2023 solar eclipse take place?
The eclipse will be visible at the following times:
- Perth from about 10 am
- Adelaide from 12:23 pm
- Melbourne from 1:15 pm
- Sydney from 1:36 pm
- Brisbane from 1:43 pm.
How to look at the solar eclipse safely
If you’re lucky enough to view the total eclipse in Exmouth, then you probably won’t need eye protection as the sun is fully blocked out. For anyone else looking at the sun, you will need eye protection, even if there’s a partial eclipse. Eclipse shades like these help block visible light from reaching your eyeballs.
When is the next solar eclipse?
While the April total solar eclipse is exciting, the totality isn’t nearly as big as the eclipse we are expecting to see in Australia in July 2028.
An article published in The Conversation says, “Many more Aussies and New Zealanders will get to see a total solar eclipse on July 22 2028. Totality will stretch across Australia, from the top of WA down through New South Wales, passing directly over Sydney. It will also cross the South Island of New Zealand, passing through Queenstown and Dunedin.”
So mark your calendars and get your glasses ready!
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