StreetWise’s 1400km journey for 62 seconds of ‘sunblock’

THE lights dimmed, temperatures dropped and dusty dogs turned tail today when the Moon blocked out the Sun for 62 seconds in the first total solar eclipse in WA in nearly 50 years.
Even the stars and planets appeared in the temporary ‘blackout’.
And StreetWise was there.
Not in Exmouth where thousands of eclipse chasers converged on the North West town to watch the rare astronomical event in which the Moon completely covered the Sun’s disk, known as 100% totality.
Places outside Exmouth including Perth and Fremantle witnessed partial eclipses, Sydney and Hobart reported less than 10% coverage of the Sun by the Moon.
But visitors at nearby Coral Bay and Onslow were treated to 99% coverage, which experts say is as good as 100% totality on any eclipse day.
So on Wednesday, instead of left at Minilya-Exmouth Road turn-off, StreetWise decided to venture a further 350km along North West Coastal Highway before turning into Onslow Road, fuelled by percolated coffee and leftover spicy devil wings from Minilya Bridge Roadhouse.
Hundreds of people, some having travelled from around Australia and overseas, crowded foreshores and festival grounds, caravan parks and beaches to view the eclipse that did not disappoint, even with 1% less coverage than Exmouth.
The Moon’s crossing began a few minutes after 10am (opposite).
Its silhouette entered the top of the Sun’s disk before it reached totality about 11.30am.
The maximum point of the solar eclipse is the time of totality.
And darkest, with the planets Saturn and Jupiter appearing above the Sun and Mercury and Venus below it. In daylight, the Sun’s corona (surface) is not visible. During a total eclipse, at 100% totality, it looks like a white halo.
On Earth, the obvious change at 95% is in the environment as the light fades and temperature falls. At Onslow, the brightness faded but the lights did not go out totally as it did at Exmouth.
The temperature at Onslow dropped from 30.6C to 26C.
At 99%, observers along the remote town’s main foreshore were lost in the ‘umbra’ or shadow of the Moon, are frozen by the profound moment when three astronomical bodies including a star 150 million kilometres away and moon 385,000km away are lined up with Earth.
Normally, no-one looks up unless it is a Full or Harvest Moon lit by the Sun.
Today, we saw the Moon’s ‘dark side’, most people having donned solar eclipse glasses to observe the celestial crossing as sound engineers cranked out Australian classics including ‘Great Southern Land’.
Somewhere in the passing shadow a flower folded and a spider began to break down its web until the light returned. Seriously.
A 2020 study of 17 species including mammals, birds and reptiles during a 2017 total solar eclipse at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina, found 75% reacted to the eclipse. Eight species engaged in disrupted behaviours. Herons, pelicans and egrets were observed leaving daytime roosts or looking for evening roosts. Another common response was anxiety, displayed by baboons, gorillas, giraffes, flamingos and lorikeets. Domestic dogs also fell silent during the eclipse, horses clustered and began shaking their heads and tails and wild birds including crows, gulls, and sparrows stopped flying and remained silent and still. Interestingly, the study found a diverse range of animals including warthogs, crocodiles, zebra and lions showed no reaction to the 2017 total eclipse. Just another day at the zoo.

Future eclipsed

TOTAL solar eclipses will be visible from Australia in 2028, 2030 and 2037.
In 2038, a total solar eclipse will again occur over WA’s North-West.
The next total solar eclipse in Perth is May 31, 2068.
The Shire of Ashburton says the 2023 total solar eclipse is a window to new astronomy tourism opportunities in the region including some of the clearest night skies in the country.
In the lead-up to the eclipse today, shire president Kerry White said it was keen to cultivate its dark sky experiences and showcase existing tourism destinations including Karijini National Park.
She said in 15 years, Onslow will be one of the best places in the world to view the 2038 total solar eclipse: “This event presents an opportunity to promote the State’s stargazing, astronomy and astrophotography offerings to the world, and we expect many visitors will explore our State beyond the eclipse event and enjoy all it has to offer, including some of the darkest night skies in the world.”

The next total solar eclipses take place:
* July 22, 2028, when totality will cross the Kimberley region, through the Northern Territory, southwest Queensland, NSW and directly over Sydney.
* July 13, 2037, when totality will cross Geraldton), southern NT (including Uluru), western QLD and directly over Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
* December 26, 2038, when totality will cross over northern WA including Onslow, central WA, SA and NSW/Victoria border
* December 17, 2066, when totality will cross over Margaret River, Augusta, Denmark, and Albany.

Additional eclipse stories at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.
Illustrations courtesy of Perth Observatory