It’s Exactly 2 Years Until A Total Solar Eclipse Visits Sydney Harbor

1 hour ago 2

Topline

On July 22, 2028, one of the most spectacular celestial events of the decade will unfold above one of the world’s most famous skylines. On that day, a total solar eclipse will sweep across Australia and plunge Sydney Harbor into midday darkness for nearly four minutes. It’s the third of three total solar eclipses to occur in just under two years, beginning with the next one on Aug. 12, 2026.

On July 22, 2028, a spectacular total solar eclipse will unfold above one of the world’s most famous skylines, plunging Sydney, Australia, into darkness during the day.

getty

Key Facts

The July 22, 2028, total solar eclipse sees a path of totality — the moon’s shadow — race across Australia from northwest to southeast before passing directly over Sydney. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible from Sydney since 1857 and the last until 2858.

During totality, the moon will completely block the sun, revealing the solar corona — the sun’s outer atmosphere — while turning day into an eerie twilight. In Sydney, totality will last for 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

Although Sydney will get a lot of the attention, the maximum eclipse occurs in a remote region of northern Western Australia, where totality will peak at 5 minutes 10 seconds. New Zealand’s South Island will also experience totality for about 3 minutes just before sunset.

According to TimeAndDate.com, just 6.3 million live within the path of totality.

The path of the total solar eclipse on July 22, 2028.

Michael Zeiler/EclipseAtlas.com

Why The 2028 Total Solar Eclipse Will Be Such A Big Deal

Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth about every 16 months, but any given location may have to wait centuries for one. The 2028 total solar eclipse will begin early in the day at Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, then cross Australia and New Zealand. “Sydney offers a fantastic opportunity for eclipse chasers,” said Ithaca, New York-based Dr. Tyler Nordgren at Space Art Travel Bureau, author of Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets, in an interview. “Totality will last only about three minutes there, but you’ll be in a gorgeous city with folks all around.”

Total Solar Eclipse 2028: City Vs. Outback

According to Nordgren, there are two different extremes when it comes to experiencing a total solar eclipse. “One is just by yourself or with a few folks out in nature, and the other is with a huge crowd, and where you all get to feed off that joy of experiencing this awe‑inspiring event together,” he said. Sydney Harbor will offer the latter, but eclipse chasers will head to remote areas of the Australian outback for the former. The eclipse reaches its maximum duration in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, where totality will last more than 5 minutes. Weather prospects are also generally better in Australia’s interior and northwest than along the New South Wales coastline. “If you go to Western Australia, there’s an opportunity for a long eclipse, but this time without the crowds,” said Nordgren.

Bee Hive formations at the Bungle Bungles in Western Australia, which will be inside a path of totality on July 22, 2028.

getty

Trio Of Total Solar Eclipses

In the 600 days until the 2028 total solar eclipse, two others will take place. The first will occur on Aug. 12, 2026, when totality will be visible from parts of eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. The second will occur on Aug. 2, 2027, when a path of totality will pass across southern Spain and North Africa, bringing over 6 minutes of totality to Luxor, Egypt. That will be the longest totality on Earth until 2114.