Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028


The solar eclipse of July 22, 2028, also called the Great Australasian Eclipse by some media outlets, is an upcoming total solar eclipse that will occur at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Saturday, July 22, 2028, with a magnitude of 1.056. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. Occurring about 1.8 days before perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter will be larger.
The central line of the path of the eclipse will cross the Australian continent from the Kimberley region in the north-west and continue in a south-easterly direction through Western Australia, the Northern Territory, south-west Queensland and New South Wales, close to the towns of Wyndham, Kununurra, Tennant Creek, Birdsville, Bourke and Dubbo, and continuing on through the centre of Sydney, where the eclipse will have a duration of over three minutes. It will also cross Queenstown and Dunedin, New Zealand. Totality will also be viewable from two of Australia's external territories: Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. A partial eclipse will be visible for parts of Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
This is the first time Sydney will experience a total solar eclipse since March 26, 1857 and will be the last until June 3, 2858.

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact2028 July 22 at 00:28:44.4 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2028 July 22 at 01:31:51.9 UTC
First Central Line2028 July 22 at 01:33:16.8 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2028 July 22 at 01:34:42.2 UTC
Greatest Duration2028 July 22 at 02:53:30.9 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2028 July 22 at 02:56:39.6 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2028 July 22 at 03:02:52.3 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2028 July 22 at 03:17:00.0 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2028 July 22 at 04:18:21.6 UTC
Last Central Line2028 July 22 at 04:19:49.0 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2028 July 22 at 04:21:15.8 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2028 July 22 at 05:24:22.4 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.05602
Eclipse Obscuration1.11518
Gamma−0.60557
Sun Right Ascension08h08m03.8s
Sun Declination+20°10'53.0"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'44.5"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.7"
Moon Right Ascension08h07m16.7s
Moon Declination+19°36'14.4"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'24.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°00'12.3"
ΔT73.2 s

Characteristics

Eclipse path intersections

The path of the July 22, 2028 eclipse will be crossed by the paths of 3 more total solar eclipses within the following 10 years, including the November 2030, July 2037, and December 2038 total solar eclipses. The path of the July 2028 solar eclipse will intersect that of the November 2030 eclipse at a point between Thargomindah and Bourke in Eastern Australia, that of the July 2037 eclipse near Bedourjie, in southwestern Queensland, and that of the December 2038 eclipse at a point in the Tasman Sea, in between Australia and New Zealand. This is similar to the intersection in the paths of the August 2017 and April 2024 total solar eclipses in the United States, over southern Illinois, the intersection of the August 2027 and March 2034 total solar eclipses in Egypt, and the intersection of the August 1999 and March 2006 solar eclipses over Turkey; the intersections within these pairs of total eclipses occurred about 7 years apart. This phenomenon is considered to be unusual, since the average interval for any given spot on Earth to observe a total solar eclipse is about once every 375 years. The intersection patterns are caused by the dynamics of the Saros cycle.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
July 6
Ascending node
July 22
Descending node
Partial lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 120		Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 146

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2028

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 146

Inex

Triad