Next week, the world will experience a rare astronomical showstopper – a Total Solar Eclipse – and Western Australia’s Exmouth is dubbed to be the best place to see it.

 

As if Ningaloo Reef couldn’t be more of a spectacle, the unique sightings go from sea to sky, with a Total Solar Eclipse occurring on Thursday 20th of April at 11:32am.

What is an eclipse?

According to NASA, an eclipse is when ‘one heavenly body such as a moon or planet moves into the shadow of another heavenly body’.

Four kinds of solar eclipses exist – Total, Annular, Partial, and Hybrid. The latter is the rarest and occurs when the distance between the Earth and the moon is delicately balanced. The Earth’s curvature means the eclipse can shift between Annular and Total as the moon’s shadow travels across Earth.

The upcoming eclipse on the 20th of April is technically a Hybrid Solar Eclipse. However, one town in Western Australia will experience a rare Total Solar Eclipse due to its location with the sun, moon, and Earth all aligning.

The Best Place to See the Next Total Solar Eclipse

Western Australia is one of the best places on Earth to view this extraordinary event. Forget singing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’; you’ll be singing about the sun, as a Total eclipse is when the new moon moves between the sun and the Earth, covering the sun entirely.

The last Total Solar Eclipse was in August 2017, and the USA had dibs on prime viewing locations.

This time around, the sun and the moon’s rare alignment will be best witnessed in Western Australia, specifically the UNESCO Heritage-listed Ningaloo region.

The moon’s shadow will slightly cover the state in a 40-kilometre-wide track with diving and seafaring capital, Exmouth, the only town in line of totality to witness this phenomenal event.

 

This coastal paradise will be covered in darkness next week | @bencarless on Unsplash

 

Exmouth is expected to witness 62 seconds of the moon completely blocking the sun at roughly 11:32am. In these 62 seconds, the town will experience complete darkness.

Nearby, Coral Bay will experience a deep partial social eclipse with over 99% coverage at 11:27am.

Head to Carnarvon (365km south of Exmouth) to view a Partial Solar Eclipse with 97% coverage. It’s estimated to occur at approximately 11:27am.

If you don’t have time for a big road trip or to fly over, city slickers in Perth can witness an expected 72% sun coverage at 11:20am.

For more information on visibility and times, head to Visit Ningaloo Eclipse.

What if I’m not in Western Australia?

Don’t have time to head over to the West Coast? No stress!

The rest of Australia will witness a ‘partial eclipse’.

The eclipse will be visible in Perth from about 10am local time, Sydney from 1.36pm, Melbourne from 1:15pm, Adelaide from 12:23pm, and Brisbane from 1.43pm.

 

Images thanks to @sarahleejs on Unsplash