Key Points
- The next total solar eclipse over Australia will be visible in Sydney.
- Four total solar eclipses will occur over parts of the country in the next 15 years.
- The longest will cast a shadow across the entirety of the sun for more than five minutes.
If you didn’t get to experience the phenomenon of a total solar eclipse this time around like those gathered on the , you may be happy to know there will be a few opportunities to see one in Australia in coming years.
The paths of the upcoming eclipses should also mean far more people will be able to enjoy them.
President of the Astronomical Society of Australia, Professor John Lattanzio, said Australia would be under the path of four more total solar eclipses across the next 15 years.
“Solar eclipses are spectacular, so, Australia really is the lucky country,” he said.
Where will the next solar eclipses be in Australia?
A total solar eclipse happens when the moon completely blocks the sun.
The part of a total eclipse where the moon totally obscures the face of the sun - known as the totality - lasted for a total of 58 seconds in Exmouth, but during the next eclipse in Australia, this will last much longer.
The path of totality is the path of the moon’s shadow moving across the Earth’s surface.
On 22 July 2028, a total solar eclipse will take place across a path that will make it visible in the Kimberley in WA, part of the Northern Territory and southwest Queensland through to parts of NSW including Sydney.
Those in the right places in WA will experience the moon shadow covering the entire face of the sun for just over five minutes.
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Total lunar eclipse explained
The length of totality will decrease as the shadow makes its way across the Australian landmass but Sydneysiders will still experience almost four minutes of darkness.
While the narrow path of the 20 April 2023 eclipse only just brushed over the western tip of WA, the 2028 eclipse and three subsequent eclipses over Australia will each cross much larger parts of the Australian landmass.
In November 2030, some areas of SA, northwest NSW and parts of Qld will experience a total solar eclipse.
In July 2037 a path across the centre of the country from the west coast across to Brisbane is expected to fall dark as part of another total solar eclipse and then in December 2038 some of central WA, SA, southern parts of Qld and those along the NSW/Vic border will get their turn.
