Upper Hunter and the 22 July 2028 total solar eclipse

Times (AEST)

Scone: eclipse begins 12:39:02 pm · maximum 2:00:38 pm · eclipse ends 3:14:25 pm. Cassilis totality begins at about 1:58:21 pm.

The edge runs through Merriwa

The northern edge passes almost exactly through Merriwa, so in town you're on a knife-edge. Head south-west and totality grows quickly: about 1 min 12 s just 5 km out, about 2 minutes at Cassilis on the Golden Highway, and more than 3 minutes in the Goulburn River and Bylong country. Scone, Aberdeen and Murrurundi are well outside the path.

Remote-area planning

This is big, quiet country. Fill up with fuel before you leave, take water and food, and don't count on mobile coverage in the gorges. Camping and day areas in Goulburn River National Park are small, so arrive early. The Drip walking track is spectacular, but watch from the open ground, not under the cliffs.

Staying in Scone

You'll see 99.3% of the Sun covered: a thin crescent Sun and an eerie dimming around 2 pm. Keep certified glasses on throughout. Totality is roughly 1½ to 2 hours' drive away to the south-west.

Getting there from Scone and Aberdeen

From Scone or Aberdeen, Merriwa is about an hour west and Cassilis about another 35 minutes along the Golden Highway. Alternatively, head south through Muswellbrook and Denman to Sandy Hollow and the Bylong Valley Way, where Baerami, Kerrabee and Bylong get 2 to 3 minutes. Either way, allow at least 1½ to 2 hours, leave by mid-morning and fill up before you go.

What you'll see from Upper Hunter, minute by minute

Times are AEST for Scone.

1. 12:39:02 pmfirst contact. Glasses go on before anyone in Scone looks up: the Moon is starting to cut into the right-hand side of the Sun.
2. About 1:30 pmthe Moon now covers about 56%. Over Scone's open parks the light goes flat and faintly metallic, and sunlight coming through the leaves lands on the ground as small crescents.
3. About 1:45 pmabout 79% covered. It is not yet 2 pm but it looks like late afternoon. July in Scone averages 14.9°C at 3 pm, so the cooling is easy to feel, and birds may stop calling.
4. About 1:55 pmabout 95% covered. Out west, the Moon's shadow is closing on Ulan and Cassilis at more than 4,000 km/h, and from Scone the north-western sky may start to darken.
5. 2:00:38 pmmaximum eclipse, 99.3% covered. The Sun is down to a very thin crescent, and it is still too bright to look at without glasses. Scone goes dim and strange, though it never turns to night. Towards the Goulburn River and Bylong country, where the path is, the south-western sky may look clearly darker than the rest.
6. 3:14:25 pmlast contact. The Moon clears the Sun's edge and the eclipse is over in Scone.

Where the edge is

Coming in from the west, the northern edge of the path passes Merriwa and Denman, runs between Singleton and Broke, goes through Pokolbin and under Cessnock, then past Toronto and Wangi Wangi to the coast at Swansea and Caves Beach. Scone, Aberdeen and Murrurundi all sit on the north side. Close to that side the eclipse reaches about 99 to 99.99%. Scone gets 99.3%, and Murrurundi, further north, 98.73%. Cross to the south side and totality lengthens steeply at first, then more slowly: about 50 s at 2 km in, 75 s at 5 km, 1 min 40 s at 10 km and about 2½ min at 22 km. That is why The Drip and Ulan, deeper in, get more than three minutes.

Where to look

At totality the Sun is about 31° up, bearing 328° true, a little west of north-north-west and about a third of the way from the horizon to overhead. At Cassilis that part of the sky is over open rolling farmland, and in the Bylong Valley the sandstone ridges stay well below 30°, so the hills are not the issue. What can block it is something close by on your NNW side: a tree, a building or, at The Drip, the gorge cliffs, which is why you watch from the river flats and car park there. The test is about 1.8 times the obstacle's height. Stand at least 18 m back from a 10 m tree; a 60 m building, about 20 storeys, would need 110 m.

At the Drip car park or a Cassilis roadside, keep further back than about 1.8× its own height from anything on your NNW side. For a 10 m tree that is 18 m; for a 20-storey tower, 110 m.

Eclipse times near the Upper Hunter

Times AEST, computed from JPL DE421 lunar ephemeris and cross-checked against NASA/Espenak Besselian elements. Merriwa sits on the edge itself, and for anywhere close to it, such as 5 km south-west of town, durations can be out by 10 s or more.

July weather in the Upper Hunter

Scone averages 9.2 clear and only 5.8 cloudy July days, one of the less cloudy records in the Hunter. West of the range (Cassilis, Ulan) is similar or better. (Mean 3 pm temperature in July: 14.9°C.)

Low local population, but Merriwa and Cassilis sit on the Golden Highway route many Hunter and Newcastle residents will use to reach the path. Expect busy roads and small village services stretched.

Where to watch in Upper Hunter

Quick answers

Keeping your eyes safe

Scone, Aberdeen and Murrurundi get no totality, and Merriwa town is right on the edge. There is no moment, in these towns or inside the path, when the Sun is safe to look at with the naked eye. Keep ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses on from 12:39:02 pm to 3:14:25 pm, including the minutes around 2:00:38 pm when only a sliver is left: at 99.3% that crescent can still burn your retina. If you drive into the path at Cassilis or Goulburn River NP, the rule is the same: glasses stay on for the whole eclipse, including the minutes of totality.

For schools, clubs and venues

Saturday 22 July means schools across the Upper Hunter, from Murrurundi to Merriwa, need to hand out glasses and run their safety lessons on Friday 21 July 2028 or earlier. For a council, club, venue or accommodation host running a viewing event, the number to plan on is one certified pair per person. The area has 14,229 people, and visitors heading for the path along the Golden Highway will add to that, so stock will be harder to get in the final 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. An event in Scone or Aberdeen stays in eclipse, so glasses are on for the full two and a half hours. Groups that travel to Cassilis keep them on for the whole eclipse too, including totality.

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

Guides for nearby towns

• Muswellbrook 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