2028: totality over Sydney

On 22 July 2028 the Moon's shadow crosses Australia corner to corner — the Kimberley at late morning, the outback after noon, and then, at 14:01 on a Saturday afternoon, directly over Sydney: 3m 49s of totality above a city of five million. It ends at sunset-height over New Zealand's South Island. A total eclipse over a major world city is genuinely rare — this is the biggest urban totality between now and the 2045 American eclipse.

City timings — computed, not copied

Computed from NASA's Besselian elements (ΔT 72.1s) with the same engine as our 2027 figures, validated for this eclipse against timeanddate.com: Sydney exact to the second, Dubbo and Dunedin within one (method).

Computed for the named city points; position toward the centreline gains seconds. Halls Creek, Birdsville and Te Anau sit just outside the band at their exact coordinates — computed partial-only, despite being close to the track. Partial phases are never safe without ISO-certified filters.

July skies, honestly

• The Kimberley and the NT interior are the sure thing: July is the dry season — sunshine exceeds 93% of daytime hours at Halls Creek and satellite cloud stays below 10% across the interior (Anderson). The trade is remoteness: these are long-haul outback positions.
• Outback NSW is nearly as good: cloud rises gradually eastward, still under 40% around Mudgee. Bourke's 4m 05s with dry-winter odds may be the best duration-per-cloud trade on the continent.
• Sydney itself is the gamble: marine climate plus the Blue Mountains make July highly variable — in Anderson's 26-year satellite sample of 22 July, 9 days were clear, 5 overcast, and 12 mixed. Half-odds for the most convenient totality imaginable; the inland escape route (Katoomba → Dubbo → Bourke) is the plan-B that turns it into good odds.
• New Zealand is the drama pick: a 8–11° Sun over Fiordland and Otago, cloudiness varying 45–80% along the track — cloudiest near Te Anau, sunniest toward Wānaka; Milford Sound gets 53% of possible sunshine. Winter mountain weather; mobility matters more than the exact town.
• The July caveat everywhere south: Southern-Ocean lows crossing the Bight bring multi-day wind and cloud systems. Watch the pattern in the final week and keep a drive-inland option.

Cloud statistics: Jay Anderson, eclipsophile.com (TSE 2028). Climatology is odds, not a forecast.

How to think about it from here

If you're reading this before August 2027: do 2027 first — longer totality, Mediterranean logistics, and the two events rehearse each other. For 2028 itself, the honest fork is simple: convenience (stay in Sydney, accept coin-flip clouds, keep the inland escape ready), certainty (position in the Kimberley/NT/outback NSW dry belt), or spectacle (a near-horizon totality over Fiordland). We'll build the full location-by-location comparison as the date approaches, with the same effort scores and honesty rules as 2027.

← All upcoming eclipses · The 2027 main event · How we compute

Timings & geometry: computed from NASA GSFC Besselian elements (SE2028Jul22T, ΔT 72.1s), validated against timeanddate.com (Sydney exact, Dubbo/Dunedin ±1s). Greatest duration 5m 10s and magnitude 1.056: NASA catalogue. Cloud: Jay Anderson, eclipsophile.com. Local times: AWST = UT+8, ACST = UT+9.5, AEST = UT+10, NZST = UT+12.