Australian star-gazers will be treated to a rare celestial spectacle from late Tuesday afternoon, as an annular solar eclipse casts its shadow across the continent.
The eclipse will be visible in Perth at 1.17pm, followed by Adelaide (3.25pm), Hobart (3.51pm), Melbourne (3.58pm), Canberra (4.08pm), Sydney (4.14pm) and Darwin (4.21pm).
But it is Australia’s southern-most state that will get the best view of the annular eclipse, which occurs when the sun is obscured by the moon, creating a “ring of fire” effect. With 72 per cent of the sun covered, Tasmanians will experience the closest to a full eclipse, Dr Brad Tucker from the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra said.
