(Posted 12 November) This Wednesday (14 November 2012) the Moon will briefly cover the Sun for as seen from Australia. If you are lucky enough to be in Far North Queensland, you will experience a total solar eclipse. For two minutes, the Moon will totally cover the Sun and the stars and planets will become visible as the Sun’s light is temporarily blocked (see below). Elsewhere, in Australia you will only experience a partial eclipse. Regardless of where you live in Australia on eclipse morning, don’t forget to download the pinhole viewer I made for the eclipse plus watch my live webcast from Cairns of the eclipse.
When observing the partial phases of the solar eclipse, keep in mind that it is not safe to look at the Sun due to the vast amount of ultraviolet radiation it produces. Spend time looking at the Sun without the use of filters sold by specialist telescope shops and you can say goodbye to your eyesight. If you don’t have access to these filters or safe ‘solar eclipse’ glasses and are not familiar with how to safely project an image of the Sun so you can indirectly view the eclipse, stick with using a pinhole projection method to indirectly view the eclipse.
Eclipse times for Australian cities
All times are given in local time (including daylight savings if applicable).
Finally, if you have no luck the next solar eclipse visible from Australia on 10 May 2013 and will be an annular/partial eclipse depending on where you are in Australia.
