TWO YEARS TO GO

Australia’s front-row seat to nature’s grandest spectacle

22nd July 2026

Today marks just two years until the sky goes dark along a broad path across Australia in the middle of the day; when the Moon will completely block the Sun in the Australia Wide Eclipse 2028 (or AWE 2028). The name is a fitting one, as a total solar eclipse is genuinely an awe-inspiring event, and AWE 2028 will bring that awe to millions of Australians.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth casting a shadow on Earth. For those in the path of the Moon’s shadow (known as the path of totality), the daytime sky will be plunged into a surreal twilight, revealing the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona), with stars and planets appearing in the sky, sunset colours around the horizon and a drop in temperature.

What sets AWE 2028 apart is its reach. Almost a quarter of the Australian population, including more than 70% of the New South Wales population, lives within the path of totality. This gives millions of Australians the chance to witness a total eclipse without leaving home. That is a rare situation; totality paths typically track over ocean or remote land, not often over major population centres.

The path of totality enters Australia on the Kimberley coast of Western Australia and tracks south-east through the Northern Territory and outback Queensland into New South Wales, passing over Kununurra, Tennant Creek, Thargomindah, Bourke, Dubbo and Bathurst, before covering the entire Greater Sydney area. A partial eclipse will be visible across all of Australia.

Totality itself will be relatively long, up to 5 minutes in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and still over three and a half minutes in Sydney. Incredibly, AWE 2028 will also be the first of four total solar eclipses to cross Australia by 2038, with further total eclipses in 2030, 2037 and 2038. Sydney residents need to experience this one. The next will not occur in Sydney for another 800 years.

Behind the scenes, the Astronomical Society of Australia’s Eclipse Working Group is working to prepare Australia for the eclipse. Safe-viewing guidance is being finalised with ophthalmologists and optometrists, fact sheets are being prepared and discussions on eclipse implications are occurring with communities, tourism authorities and government.

“A total solar eclipse has a unique ability to bring a community together in an inspiring shared event, and with this one being total in my home town of Sydney, I can’t wait to share my enthusiasm with family and friends,” says Fred Watson, former Australian Government Astronomer-at-Large and honorary professor at Macquarie University. “Two years might sound like a long way off, but it’s not too soon for communities along the path to start thinking about how they’ll make the most of it.”

The best place to find out more information about the 22 July 2028 eclipse and the future Australian eclipses to come is the Astronomical Society of Australia eclipse website. Just search “ASA eclipse” or check out: https://eclipse.asa.astronomy.org.au

Mark your calendars now: 22 July 2028 will be a day to remember right across Australia.