Key events
Our celestial livestream will start in 30 minutes, so stay tuned. Coming up in the meantime: more on shadow snakes, the totality, coronas, and a sun-eating god of the underworld.
When you can see the eclipse
The total eclipse path will swoop from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, mostly over water. For those viewing the total eclipse, it will last a little over a minute.
The partial eclipse, though also brief, will be seen by many more people: here is where and when you can see it in cities in Australia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and New Zealand (UTC):
What is a ‘hybrid solar eclipse’
Hybrid solar eclipses are rare – there have been only a few in the last 100 years. There is a clue in the name – the way that the sun, moon and Earth will align today means that the eclipse is a combination of two kinds – annular or total, depending on where you are in relation to the moon.
Tanya Hill, the senior curator of astronomy at Museums Victoria explained it like this to my colleague Donna Lu:
“It begins over the Indian Ocean as an annular eclipse, where the moon is slightly too small to completely block the sun and a ring of sunlight shines out from around the dark moon,” she said.
“By the time the moon’s shadow reaches land, it will become a total eclipse – the moon now appears large enough to completely block the sun.”
Where and when to watch the eclipse in Australia
In Australia, only lucky viewers in the state of Western Australia will be able to experience the total eclipse. People in other parts of the country will be outside the area totally covered by the moon’s inner shadow. In other states, the event will be a partial eclipse, with the sun only being obscured to varying extents.
Here is a breakdown of the eclipse times in Australian cities:
Here is our full explainer on when, where and how to safely watch the eclipse in Australia:
Opening summary
Today is the day: the Earth, moon and sun will line up perfectly, causing a rare type of total solar eclipse called a hybrid solar eclipse. It is a phenomenon that occurs just a handful of times every 100 years.
People in parts of Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia will have the best view of it: for a few moments it will, if the sky is clear, totally change their surroundings.
But it will be visible in some form across Australia and Indonesia and in parts of New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest. Before we begin: the same rules apply today as on any other day – don’t stare straight at the sun unless you are looking through a safe material. The best is eclipse glasses (ISO number 12312-2).
You can also watch through a homemade pinhole camera, a colander or a welding mask, if you happen to have any of these things handy.
Follow along for a list of viewing times, reactions from eclipse watchers, and the weirdest things that we can expect, including crescent moon-shaped disco ball-like lights and, more ominously, “shadow snakes”.
And please do send me your pictures, comments and questions on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: [email protected].
