Total solar eclipse of July 22, 2028: totality over Sydney and the South Island.
On July 22, 2028 the Moon's shadow crosses Australia from the Kimberley coast to Sydney and then the South Island of New Zealand, the first total solar eclipse over a major Australian city in decades. Totality lasts up to 5 minutes 10 seconds on the central line in the Kimberley and about 3 minutes 48 seconds in Sydney, where the eclipsed Sun stands in the early afternoon winter sky. Greatest eclipse is at 02:55 UTC over the north of Western Australia. This page gives the path, the times, and who sees a partial eclipse.
Where is the path of totality?
The path is about 230 km wide. It begins at sunrise in the southern Indian Ocean, makes landfall on the Kimberley coast of Western Australia at about 02:53 UTC, and runs southeast across the Northern Territory, the southwest corner of Queensland, and the length of New South Wales before leaving the coast at Sydney at about 04:03 UTC. After crossing the Tasman Sea it reaches New Zealand's South Island over Fiordland and Otago at about 04:19 UTC, with the Sun low in the late afternoon, and ends at sunset in the South Pacific near the Antipodes Islands. The point of greatest eclipse is in the northern Kimberley, roughly 140 km south of Kalumburu.
What time is the eclipse in Sydney and other cities?
Greatest eclipse is at 02:55 UTC, magnitude 1.056. Local maxima along the path, from published path tables: Kununurra, Western Australia, about 11:04 AWST with 2 minutes 57 seconds of totality; Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, about 12:52 ACST with 3 minutes 26 seconds; Bourke, New South Wales, about 13:54 AEST with 4 minutes 6 seconds; Dubbo, about 14:00 AEST with 3 minutes 50 seconds; Sydney, 14:01 AEST with 3 minutes 48 seconds. In New Zealand, Queenstown sees about 2 minutes 54 seconds around 16:19 NZST and Dunedin about 2 minutes 51 seconds around 16:20 NZST, with the Sun only about 8 degrees above the horizon. The whole Australian crossing takes about 70 minutes.
Who sees a partial eclipse?
All of Australia, all of New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and much of Southeast Asia. Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Auckland, and Wellington all see a deep partial eclipse. A partial eclipse needs certified eclipse glasses throughout; only inside the path, and only during totality itself, is it safe to look without them.
Why does Sydney get almost four minutes?
The Moon passes perigee on July 23, the day after the eclipse, so its disc is near its largest and covers the Sun with room to spare, which is what a magnitude of 1.056 means. That gives a wide, long-lasting shadow. Sydney sits well along the track, where the shadow has speeded up somewhat compared with the Kimberley, so it gets 3 minutes 48 seconds rather than the maximum 5 minutes 10 seconds, still a long totality by any standard. It is midwinter in Sydney, with the Sun well up in the northwestern sky in the early afternoon, and July cloud is the main risk.
What else does 2028 hold?
Six months earlier, on January 26, 2028, the Moon is near apogee at the same node and produces a ten-minute annular eclipse from the Amazon to Spain. On the lunar side, 2028 has a shallow partial lunar eclipse on January 12, a deeper partial on July 6 that Australia sees at moonrise, and a total lunar eclipse on December 31 that doubles as a Blue Moon. The 2028 full moon calendar has every date.
Quick answers.
What time is the 2028 eclipse in Sydney?
Maximum at 14:01 AEST on Saturday, July 22, 2028, with 3 minutes 48 seconds of totality. Greatest eclipse for the whole event is 02:55 UTC over the Kimberley.
How long does totality last?
Up to 5 minutes 10 seconds on the central line in the northern Kimberley, about 4 minutes in western New South Wales, 3 minutes 48 seconds in Sydney, and just under 3 minutes in Otago, New Zealand.
Does New Zealand see totality?
Yes. Fiordland and Otago on the South Island, including Queenstown and Dunedin, see about 2 minutes 50 seconds of totality in the late afternoon with the Sun low in the west.