2028 Solar Eclipse

[HarryD]

A quick observation.
Here we are 4 years to the day, 22/07/2028, and you guessed it, it's cloudy in Sydney. It has been clear for more than a few days, windy though, so fingers crossed for 2028.
Cheers
Harry D

[Leo.G]

That's really looking ahead Greg.
I'll be happy if I get to see the Mars and Jupiter Conjunction August 14th.
Truth is I know it will be way too icy where I live to leave any optics or camera set up in the yard and I certainly won't be sleeping out there with my gear. As for getting up in sub zero temperatures and setting up, done it in the past, I think I may just stay snuggled up in my warm bed and enjoy everyone else's images.
I was earlier thinking maybe the RC8 would be nice with a camera attached for Mars/Jupiter but it's secondary ices/dews up and unless I invest in some warmers or make my own probably never happen.
Plus I already know it will be overcast here, same for the solar eclipse, it's been foretold for me it seems (every other solar eclipse in the past 10 years anyway).

Who's a ball of negativity? Haha

[OzEclipse]

That's pretty normal weather for this time of year. A single day of weather is not a statistically significant sample. Look at the attached average cloud map for July. It averages 15 years of data.

I have very roughly drawn the eclipse path over the top of it. This correlates most closely to probability of eclipse weather success. % of possible sunshine correlates more closely but I don't have access to that data for AU.

Across much of southern and central NSW, average cloud cover is 4-5 Octas(50-62%) at 3pm in July. This zone of poor weather prospects extends all the way from Sydney to Bourke. I'm sure this won't come as news to anybody who observes regularly from Eastern NSW in winter.

Driving west over the mountains into the near Central West will not significantly improve weather prospects. Driving up to NW NSW improves prospects slightly, driving into SW Qld improves prospects greatly as you get into the winter high pressure zone however, road conditions become very poor and are not conducive to transporting sensitive astro gear.

The cloud cover in the Kimberleys, Northern Territory and extreme SW Qld parts of the eclipse path between Birdsville and Bedourie, have 1-2 octas (12.5-25%) cloud.

The nearest by road to Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney is the area between Birdsville and Bedourie some 1900km-2000km from any of the eastern capitals or coastal areas. Depending upon road conditions, the last 600km from Windorah can be extremely rough with patches of bull dust hiding deep ruts and corrugations. A friend of mine driving conservatively at just 50-60km per hr rolled a Toyota Landcruiser 4wd on that road and the resulting injuries left him as a lifelong quadriplegic. Allow plenty of time, drive very slow, and don't bring any fragile astro gear. The cars can bounce big time on those big ruts and corrugations.

You can reach the path of totality via sealed highways.

The quickest & easiest way to access the prime weather area, is to fly to Alice Springs, rent a car and drive 400km north on the Stuart Hwy to the eclipse path centre line at Devil's Marbles ~ 130km south of Tennant Creek. Tennant Creek has very little tourist accommodation so expect to spend a cold night sleeping in your car or drive the 4 hrs back to Alice Springs afterwards.

At Devils Marbles:-
1st contact is at 1120am.
Totality is at 12:50pm
Last contact at 2:18pm.

It might be feasible to leave Alice Springs very early, and return to Alice Springs by about 7pm, or earlier if you don't wait for the end of the partial eclipse.

Driving to Devils Marbles from the east is a fair hike regardless of where you live: -

Brisbane 2500km
Sydney 3200km
Melbourne 2700km

The Stuart Highway is part of the National Highway network and provides a vital link between Adelaide and Darwin. The highway is a fully sealed all weather roads maintained in good condition and may be an easier option if longer than tackling the SW QLD roads. I have an ISUZU DMAX high ground clearance 4WD. I have driven on the roads around Birdsville numerous times for Earth Science research fieldwork. Although my vehicle can handle the road conditions, I would not choose to transport telescope equipment in the car over those crappy roads to Bedourie.

Joe Cali

[GOTO]

Thanks for that Joe. I was thinking of around Birdsville but now might look at Tennant Creek.
Geoff

[HarryD]

Weather all clear today. To be expected I suppose.

[Peter Ward]

We travelled to just north of Tennant Creek for the annular eclipse there some years ago.

Steel bars across most shop windows gave us a heads up that Tennant Creek was not a caring and sharing town. Alcohol was a real problem with the locals...many of whom were missing their front teeth and were out cold in the local park by 1.00pm due an extended liquid lunch.

Hence if you make the trek to that part of the world, I'd suggest you be mindful that you "are not in Kansas anymore".

[Camelopardalis]

Karlu Karlu / Devil’s Marbles would be a stunning landscape to experience the eclipse. A few years back I had the pleasure of visiting.

But at 1000km closer, I’ll prolly take my chances with Birdsville, depending on how the rains have been. Big Red Bash narrowly missed a nasty rain event this year, but they are less common. Thousands of folk drive there in their cars, RVs of towing caravans to get there as it’s usually accessible, albeit always with care as Joe says.

The distance “advantage” starts to dissolve if you live too far from QLD though.

[GOTO]

Thanks Jo for the map. It’s a real conundrum isn’t it. I would imagine too that the Devils Marbles will be jammed and or blocked off. Japanese your groups will have surely already sent people to negotiate and book fenced off areas for them only. Access will be very difficult I suspect given the numbers trying to see it. Is anyone organising a tour I wonder?
Regards
Geoff

[glenc]

Attached are solar exposure maps for 22 July 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Also maps for 21 and 23 July 2023 and 2024.
The eclipse goes through Bourke, Dubbo and Sydney in NSW.
The eclipse path map. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2028-july-22

[JethroB76]

Give this one a bump seeing as it's so much closer now ��
Some interesting info to mull over in terms of weather data for the NSW areas..I will have to do some thinking over the next year or two to formulate a plan for elsewhere maybe

[AstralTraveller]

If you plan to hire a car book asap. In Cairns in 2012 the hire company had bought cars from all over Aust, along with additional staff bought in from interstate to cope. When we arrived there was 4 -5 queues each 8-10 deep - with a triage table at the door to get people in the right queue. Two days later a mate had to visit 3 servos to find one with diesel. And it's not as though Cairns isn't used to handling tourists.

[bojan]

I think I will risk it and go to Dubbo with my own car.. with some company (I hope..). Too old for trouble in NT and if weather betrays me in NSW.. so be it, at least I could say then that I tried my best :-)

[Cyberman]

What's the road to Thargomindah like from Brisbane? Is there much out there in way of accommodation? Anyone know ?, Rob

[OzEclipse]

There was a caravan park and a couple of motels but Thargomindah was absolutely clobbered by recent floods. The flood breached the town levy banks and flooded the whole centre of town. A resident being interviewed thought that some businesses might not ever recover. It's probably a year or two too early to be asking these questions.

Joe