Total solar eclipse on November 13–14, 2012

A total solar eclipse will be seen from parts of Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South America and Antarctica on November 13–14, 2012. It will be 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.

Check out when the eclipse starts all over the world

Watch an animation of the eclipse's path:

The brightest shadow at the center of the moving shadow shows the area where the annular solar eclipse is most visible: The eclipse’s visibility is 50 percent or more. The outermost area with the lightest shading shows where the eclipse’s visibility is between zero and 50 percent.

Click on the play button to view the animation. The pause button can also be used to temporarily suspend the animation.

Time zone converter

The World Clock’s Time Zone Converter helps you find when the eclipse will occur in your local time. Universal Time (UT), a timescale based on the Earth’s rotation, is about 0.65 seconds behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) during most of November 2012. UTC is in the time zone converter.

Can I see the eclipse?

This solar eclipse will be visible in northern Australia and the South Pacific Ocean. The best place to view the total eclipse will be the city of Cairns, in Queensland, Australia, which will experience about 2 minutes of totality at about 20:38 UT, or 06:38 AEST, on November 14. The nearby town of Port Douglas will also experience the eclipse and will host a solar eclipse marathon run to coincide with the event. See our tips on viewing an eclipse.

Parts of Australia and New Zealand that will see a partial view of the eclipse include:

• Adelaide
• Auckland
• Brisbane
• Melbourne
• Sydney
• Wellington

You can also see the weather for these places, also found in the World Clock, closer to the eclipse’s date. After crossing the South Pacific, the eclipse’s path ends at about 800km west of Chile at 23:48 UT.

When will the eclipse occur?

The penumbral eclipse (P1) starts at 19:37:58 UT and the partial eclipse (U1) starts at 20:35:08 UT.

The total eclipse (U2) starts at 20:37:03 UT, and the point of greatest eclipse occurs over the Pacific Ocean (latitude 39°57.6’S, longitude 161°20.2'W) at 22:11:48 UT.  At this instant, the axis of the Moon's shadow passes closest to Earth's centre. The maximum duration of totality is 4 minutes 2 seconds.

The total eclipse (U3) ends at 23:46:27 UT followed by the end of the partial eclipse (U4) at 23:48:24 UT. The penumbral eclipse (P4) ends at 00:45:34 UT.

Other eclipses in 2012

This eclipse is one of 4 eclipses in 2012. Other eclipses for the year are:

• An annular solar eclipse on May 20-21, 2012
• A partial lunar eclipse on June 4, 2012
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 28, 2012.

timeanddate.com will provide information on more eclipses close to the time of their occurrence.

Note: Eclipse information courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and P. Harrington, author of Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why & How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses.