You’ve probably seen a bunch of headlines about a total solar eclipse coming on August 21. It is set to be one of the most spectacular celestial displays of the past century. Unfortunately, everyone in the Southern Hemisphere – including Australians – won’t be treated to a darkening of the sun. At all.
The clue is in the name: The Great American Eclipse. On Monday, August 21, 2017, all of North America will be treated to a total eclipse of the sun. At approximately 10:16am PDT, the moon will completely cover the sun, giving spectators the same awe-inspiring sight that once caused our ancestors to gibber in caves and quake in religious ecstasy.
Unfortunately, we Antipodeans will be getting a boring old regular sun. The eclipse will only be visible from North America and parts of South America, Africa and Europe. Tch.
If you do want to experience the eclipse live, you’ll need to watch it online. You can find a list of reliable total lunar eclipse streams here. Or you can watch NASA’s official Total Solar Eclipse coverage at the below video embed from August 21:
In related news, there’s a total lunar eclipse on 31 January, 2018 that will be visible from Australia. Mark your calendars!
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/08/the-best-livestreams-for-watching-the-2017-total-eclipse/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/hnnh2r2944lglhib9mdn.jpg” title=”The Best Livestreams For Watching The 2017 Total Eclipse” excerpt=”There’s a total solar eclipse happening on August 21, 2017. Unfortunately, the Moon’s unabashed Sun-blocking power will only be visible from the continental US and will only be visible in other countries as a partial eclipse. Fortunately, these streams mean you can enjoy the full extent of this celestial event from your laptop.”]
Comments
4 responses to “PSA: Today’s Total Solar Eclipse Is NOT Visible From Australia”
That’s discrimination! Need to take action against the universe allowing this to happen!!
“all of North America will be treated to a total eclipse of the sun”
If by “all” you mean all countries in North America (all 2 of them) will, somewhere in their HUGE geography, have places that experience a total eclipse, then yes.
But the actual area that experiences a total eclipse is very narrow compared to the continent itself, and misses most states.
North America has 3 countries…
All NA countries will experience an eclipse, it looks like only 10 states in the US get totality.
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4518
ok maybe 13
It would be if we didn’t have this stupid daylight savings…
The totality will not be view able by all of North America. You have to be in a certain area.