Nov 13 – Nov 14, 2012 Total Solar Eclipse
A total solar eclipse can be seen from parts of Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South America and Antarctica on November 13–14, 2012. It is November 14 local time when the eclipse is visible in places east of the International Date Line.
The eclipse starts at 19:38 Universal Time (UT) on November 13 and ends at 00:46 UT on November 14, 2012.
What the eclipse would look like near the max point
The animation shows approximately what the eclipse looks like near the maximum point of the eclipse (weather permitting).
Stages in eclipse
- Partial Eclipse just started
- Partial Eclipse in good progress
- Full Eclipse starts
- Maximum Eclipse
- Full Eclipse ends
- Partial Eclipse continues
- Partial Eclipse about to end
Click the 'play' button to view the animation. The pause button can also be used to temporarily suspend the animation.
The animation shows where this total solar eclipse is visible (white, gray and red shading) as well as day and night (dark “wave” slowly moving across the Earth's surface).
The colors within the shaded area show how much of the Sun's disk the Moon covers during the eclipse. The dark center of the red area shows the best locations to view this eclipse. Here, the Moon moves centrally in front of the Sun and the eclipse is total.
In the red area, the Sun is obscured 90 percent or more, in the dark gray area the Moon covers between 25 and 90 percent of the Sun's disk. The white shaded area symbolizes locations where less than 25 percent are covered.
The dark strip in the center indicates the best locations for viewing the eclipse. Here, the Moon moves centrally in front of the Sun.
The eclipse is also visible in the areas that are shaded red, but less of the Sun's disk is obscured. The fainter the red shading the less of the Sun's disk is covered during the eclipse.
Where to see the eclipse
Continents seeing at least a partial eclipse:
- South in Asia
- Much of Australia
- South in South America
- Pacific
- Atlantic
- Antarctica
Total eclipse visible in...
Locations near the shadow's path:
Partial eclipse visible in...
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
- Townsville, Queensland, Australia
- Lindeman Island, Queensland, Australia
- Mackay, Queensland, Australia
- Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
- Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
- Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
- Port Vila, Vanuatu
- Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Noumea, New Caledonia, France
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Kingston, Norfolk Island
- Whangarei, New Zealand
- Hamilton, New Zealand
- Tauranga, New Zealand
- Rotorua, New Zealand
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Gisborne, New Zealand
When the eclipse happens worldwide
The eclipse starts in one location and ends in another, the times below are for visibility for any location on earth.| Event | UTC Time | Time in Palo Alto* |
|---|---|---|
| First location to see partial eclipse begins | Nov 13 at 7:38 PM | Nov 13 at 11:38 AM |
| First location to see full Eclipse begins | Nov 13 at 8:35 PM | Nov 13 at 12:35 PM |
| Maximum Eclipse | Nov 13 at 10:12 PM | Nov 13 at 2:12 PM |
| Last location to see full Eclipse ends | Nov 13 at 11:48 PM | Nov 13 at 3:48 PM |
| Last location to see partial Eclipse ends | Nov 14 at 12:45 AM | Nov 13 at 4:45 PM |
* Local times are not for when the eclipse can be viewable from Palo Alto, but when the eclipse can be seen at the first, max and last locations, somewhere else on earth, useful if you want to want to see it via a live webcam. See also eclipses viewable in Palo Alto.
This solar eclipse is visible in northern Australia and the South Pacific Ocean. The best place to view the total eclipse is the city of Cairns, in Queensland, Australia, which experiences about 2 minutes of totality at about 20:38 UT, or 06:38 AEST, on November 14. The nearby town of Port Douglas also experiences the eclipse and hosts a solar eclipse marathon run to coincide with the event.
Other eclipses in 2012
Astronomy calculators
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- Moon Phase Calculator – Find Moon Phases for any year
- Find Sunrise and Sunset for a Location
- Day and Night World Map – See which parts of the Earth are currently illuminated by the Sun
More information
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- Event Time Announcer/Fixed Time – Show local times worldwide for your event.