Partial Solar Eclipse for Sydney
14 November 2012

The Observatory is carrying a live feed of today’s eclipse from near Port Douglas.

Figure 1. The Moon and Sun at the middle of the partial eclipse as seen from Sydney
at 8:03am AEDT on 14 November
* AEST: = Australian Eastern Standard Time
AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight-savings Time.

On Wednesday 14 November 2012 there will be a total solar eclipse visible from Northern Australia. From Sydney however only a partial eclipse will be visible. The eclipse begins low in the eastern sky at 7:07am AEDT when the edge of the Moon and Sun first appear to touch. The maximum coverage will occur at 8:03am with 68% of the diameter covered by the Moon. The eclipse will end at 9:04am. From Brisbane* 84% of the diameter is covered by the Moon, from Melbourne 52%, from Hobart 45% and from Adelaide 52%.

The best location to see the total solar eclipse, when all of the Sun is covered by the Moon is from the Cairns, Port Douglas region of Cape York. In Cairns the Moon fully covers the Sun starts at 6:39am AEST. This will result in 2 minutes of darkness or totality.

Eclipse times for Sydney
Eclipse Begins: 7:07am AEDT
Eclipse Middle: 8:03am AEDT
Eclipse End: 9:04am AEDT

The last total solar eclipse visible from Sydney occurred on 26 March 1857, producing 1 minute and 54 seconds of totality. The next total solar eclipse seen from Sydney occurs on 22 July 2028, resulting in 3 minutes and 49 seconds of totality. After that the next one is 830 years later in 2858.

How to watch the eclipse safely

Figure 2. How to project an image of the Sun through a telescope.
Never look through the telescope at the Sun and remove its little finder scope.

It is possible to safely watch the eclipse yourself using a small telescope to project the image, as shown in Figure 2 to the right. With your back to the Sun aim a telescope towards it (this is not as difficult as it sounds – use the shadow of the telescope) and focus its image onto a white card held about 20cm behind the eyepiece.

DO NOT LOOK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE! REMOVE ITS LITTLE FINDER SCOPE IF IT HAS ONE.

Never leave the telescope unattended and ensure that children are supervised at all times. Viewing the projected image is quite safe, but looking through the telescope will cause almost instant blindness.
For a direct safe view of the Sun, a pair of Sydney Observatory eclipse glasses can be purchased at $4.00* each for orders less than 200 or $3.50* each for more than 200. (*Schools only. Regular price is $5 per pair)

Download the the Eclipse glasses order for schools.