Hiyas,

Probably a complicated issue, but I thought I'd ask anyway since I couldn't find anything a layman could understand from Google.

Is there any way to find out when the next full eclipse of the sun will be in Australia?

(if you haven't already guessed I'm completely uneducated when it comes to this sort of thing

Thanks!

Hi Mad Manfred,

There is a list of solar eclipses with locations and eclipse type on the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses

Hope this is what you were wanting.

Yeah that was great I didn't think of Wikipedia.

But it says this is the next time it'll happen - February 7, 2008 -03:55 - annular 02:12 min Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand

I'm curious...does that mean a full solar eclipse? As far as I know you need to be in a specific place to witness the event...is that true?

Yes, in this case in Antartica, Australia or New Zealand. Southern Australia is a good tip for a 80-90%

An annular eclipse is not the same as a total eclipse. The distance between the Earth and the Moon varies as does the distance between the Earth and the sun. If an eclipse occurs when the moon is at it furthest from the Earth and the Earth is slightly closer to the sun then the disc of the Moon is not quite large enough to totally obscure the sun. The result is that the sun appears as a ring of light (hence the term annular). As a result this is more like a partial eclipse than a total one.

You are right about having to be in the right place to see a total eclipse. The path of totality is fairly narrow, it is never more than 250km wide and is frequently much narrower. If you are outside of that path you will experience only a partial eclipse. Even a 99% eclipse is totally different from a total eclipse.

The spectacular solar corona can only be seen during a total solar eclipse. I was fortunate enough to see the 21st June 2001 total eclipse from Zimbabwe, it was an awesome sight.

An annular eclipse is not the same as a total eclipse.

Sorry, should have added that too ....

Thanks for clearing that up guys