Muswellbrook and the 22 July 2028 total solar eclipse

Times (AEST)

Muswellbrook: eclipse begins 12:39:12 pm · maximum 2:00:43 pm · eclipse ends 3:14:27 pm. Bylong totality begins at about 1:58:05 pm.

Down the Bylong Valley Way

The edge runs just south of Denman. From Muswellbrook, drive through Denman to Sandy Hollow (about 51 s, edge zone), then turn onto the Bylong Valley Way. Baerami gets about 1 min 58 s, Kerrabee about 2 min 44 s and Bylong just over 3 minutes. It's a beautiful drive in its own right.

Rural road etiquette

The Bylong Valley Way is a narrow rural road through working farms. Pull fully off the road, don't block gates or driveways, and only use public land or places where you have permission. Leave early: the road will carry traffic from across the Upper Hunter.

Staying in town

Not making the drive? In town the Moon covers 99.7% of the Sun. Through your glasses you will see a thin crescent, and around you the daylight dims in an unusual way. The glasses stay on from 12:39:12 pm to 3:14:27 pm.

Totality: why it is worth the drive

From Muswellbrook the Moon covers 99.7% of the Sun, a deep crescent and an eerie light. Cross into the path and totality adds more: the temperature drops, stars and planets come out, and a 360° sunset glow wraps the horizon. Sandy Hollow has a short totality, and Kerrabee and Bylong give you nearly three minutes or more.

What you'll see from Muswellbrook, minute by minute

Times in this list are AEST, for Muswellbrook itself.

1. 12:39:12 pmfirst contact. Put your glasses on and watch the right-hand edge of the Sun: a small notch is the first sign of the Moon.
2. About 1:30 pmthe Sun is about 56% covered. Light coming through tree leaves forms small crescents on the ground, and the daylight looks flat with a metallic edge.
3. About 1:45 pmabout 79% covered. Temperatures begin to drop, birds may go quiet, and the town feels as if it is late in the day.
4. About 1:55 pmabout 95% covered. The Moon's shadow is racing across the region at more than 4,000 km/h, and the north-western sky begins to darken.
5. 2:00:43 pmmaximum eclipse, 99.7% covered. A very fine crescent of Sun remains, so Muswellbrook stays in dim, eerie daylight and glasses stay on. Look south, beyond Denman where the path begins: that part of the sky may be darker.
6. 3:14:27 pmlast contact. The Moon clears the Sun's edge and the eclipse is over in Muswellbrook.

Where the edge is

For Muswellbrook, the part of the edge that matters is the stretch just south of Denman. The full line runs south-east to north-west: from Caves Beach and Swansea past Wangi Wangi and Toronto, under Cessnock, through Pokolbin, between Broke and Singleton, then past Denman and Merriwa. Muswellbrook, Jerrys Plains and Denman are all on the north side. There the eclipse reaches about 99 to 99.99% at most, which means no corona and no stars. Past the edge, totality gets longer quickly at first, then more slowly: about 50 s at 2 km inside, 75 s at 5 km, 1 min 40 s at 10 km and about 2½ min at 22 km. You can see that pattern along the Bylong Valley Way, from 51 s at Sandy Hollow to 3 min 07 s at Bylong. Denman is only about 0.6 km outside, so treat it as no totality.

Where to look

When totality arrives along the Bylong Valley Way, the Sun is about 30° above the horizon in the north-north-west (bearing 328° true), about a third of the way up the sky. Baerami's open farmland valley and the valley floors at Kerrabee and Bylong give you plenty of sky, so the main job is to find a place to pull off with nothing tall on the NNW side. Anything there blocks the Sun if you are closer to it than about 1.8 times its height. That means at least 18 m from a 10 m tree, and 110 m from a 20-storey (60 m) building.

On the Bylong Valley Way, pull off where nothing to your NNW is closer than 1.8× its own height: 18 m from a 10 m tree, 110 m from a 20-storey tower.

Where to watch in Muswellbrook

Eclipse times around Muswellbrook

Times AEST, computed from JPL DE421 lunar ephemeris and cross-checked against NASA/Espenak Besselian elements. Sandy Hollow is in the edge zone, so its 51 s could change by 10 s or more.

Weather odds and crowds

The cloud figures are from Scone, 25 km north of Muswellbrook: 9.2 clear days and 5.8 cloudy days in an average July, with 3 pm temperatures averaging 14.9°C.

Muswellbrook, Scone and even Singleton residents will funnel through Denman and Sandy Hollow. The Bylong Valley Way is a narrow rural road, so spread out and arrive early.

Eye safety

Muswellbrook stays outside the path, and the Sun is never safe to view with the naked eye, from town or inside the path, even at 2:00:43 pm when 99.7% is covered. Certified ISO 12312-2 glasses stay on the whole time, because the thin sliver left is still bright enough to burn your retina. At Baerami, Kerrabee, Bylong and Sandy Hollow, the rule is the same: glasses stay on for the whole eclipse, including the minutes of totality. Never use sunglasses, smoked glass or homemade filters, and never point a camera, binoculars or a telescope at the Sun without a proper solar filter on the front.

For schools, councils and businesses in Muswellbrook

Muswellbrook schools will need to get glasses out and finish safety lessons by Friday 21 July 2028, since the eclipse is on a Saturday. A council, club or venue event here means one certified pair per person, worn for the full two and a half hours. Groups heading down the Bylong Valley Way still need a pair each for the eclipse phases either side of totality. Muswellbrook has 16,357 people, and Scone and Singleton residents will be making the same trip through Denman, so stock will be in demand in the last few weeks. We can supply bulk cartons, fundraising boxes of 20 to 250 pairs for schools and clubs, and custom-branded glasses from 500 units with an artwork proof before printing.

• Bulk & wholesale
• Custom-branded glasses
• School & club fundraising
• Eclipse safety plan for schools

FAQ

More eclipse guides nearby

• Upper Hunter eclipse guide
• Singleton eclipse guide
• Hunter Valley eclipse guide
• Dubbo eclipse guide
• 2028 eclipse times across Australia
• Interactive eclipse map

← Back to the 2028 eclipse guide