25 November 2030: a total eclipse from Namibia to Durban and the Australian outback

On 4 December 2002, the Moon’s shadow crossed southern Africa and then South Australia. In Ceduna, a town of about 2,000 people on the edge of the Nullarbor, the eclipse turned into a festival, with buskers, street stalls and oyster feasts. Totality there lasted just 32 seconds, less than an hour before sunset. At Kruger National Park, Margaret Makuya, a Venda woman, told a reporter: “It means that our god is passing through. We bow our heads to show that we respect him.”

The shadow comes back to both regions on 25 November 2030, and stays much longer. Durban gets about two and a half minutes of totality at 7:33 in the morning. Streaky Bay, an hour’s drive down the coast from Ceduna, gets about two minutes in the early evening, against Ceduna’s 32 seconds in 2002.

Sunrise in Namibia, early evening in South Australia

The eclipse begins at sunrise off the coast of Namibia. Most of southern Africa sees it between 7:15 and 7:35 am, with the Sun 15 to 35 degrees up in the east. The shadow then spends about three hours crossing the Indian Ocean, where totality reaches its longest, 3 minutes and 44 seconds, far from any land.

South Australia sees it at about 6:50 pm local daylight time, with the Sun in the west. The farther east it goes, the lower the Sun stands, and east of the Queensland town of Miles the Sun sets while it is still totally covered.

Namibia, Botswana and the Highveld

Land comes first on Namibia’s Atlantic coast, north of Henties Bay. The shadow passes the granite domes of Spitzkoppe and the Brandberg massif, then crosses Windhoek, where totality lasts almost two minutes at 7:18 am. Since 2000, Windhoek has been cloudy on 25 November only about one year in four.

After the Kalahari and southern Botswana, the path enters South Africa’s North West Province. Schweizer-Reneke, Klerksdorp, Kroonstad and Welkom are all inside it, and at 7:28 am the Sun stands about 30 degrees above the flat farmland of the Highveld. Johannesburg, a little over 100 km north of the path, sees 97% of the Sun covered, so its sky never goes fully dark. Bethlehem, in the eastern Free State, lies almost on the centre line, with about two and a half minutes of totality.

Lesotho and Durban

The shadow crosses the north-east of Lesotho, a country where even the lowest point is 1,400 m above sea level. Afriski, a ski resort in the Maloti Mountains, has more than two minutes of totality. Maseru, the capital, lies just outside the path.

Durban, with about four million people in the metro area, is the largest city in the path. Totality there starts at about 7:33 am and lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The longest totality on land, about 2 minutes and 32 seconds, falls on the coast just north of the city. Sunrise over the Indian Ocean comes more than two and a half hours earlier, so by eclipse time it stands well clear of the sea. If the morning is clear, people in Durban will only have to step outside before work, but late November mornings there are cloudy about two times in three.

The outback at sunset

In Australia the path starts on Eyre Peninsula. Streaky Bay has about two minutes of totality, with the Sun 17 degrees up over the sea to the west. The path then crosses the Gawler Ranges and the Flinders Ranges, where the low evening Sun lights up the red rock of Wilpena Pound and totality lasts almost as long. After that it runs into the corner of New South Wales at Tibooburra.

Two small Queensland towns, Hungerford and Eulo, sit inside both this path and the path of the total eclipse of 22 July 2028. Hungerford gets more than four minutes in 2028 and almost two in 2030. Most places on Earth wait centuries between total eclipses, about 375 years on average. Hungerford gets two in 28 months.

Best places to see the 2030 total eclipse

• Inland Namibia, around Windhoek Almost two minutes, and only about a 23% chance of cloud on the day, the lowest on the path. Windhoek has an international airport. Spitzkoppe is about three hours’ drive west, and the Brandberg is a full day’s trip.
• The Free State, around Bethlehem and Kroonstad About two and a half minutes near the centre line, a two- to three-hour drive from Johannesburg. Keep a car ready in case cloud builds over one town and not the next.
• Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal coast The longest totality on land, about 2 minutes and 32 seconds just north of the city, but also the cloudiest mornings on the African part of the path. It makes sense if you live there and is a gamble if you fly in for it.
• Northern Lesotho More than two minutes of totality at about 3,000 m, where a clear sky can cloud over within half an hour.
• Eyre Peninsula and the Flinders Ranges About two minutes in the early evening, with the Sun still well above the horizon. Accommodation in the small towns is limited, so many visitors will camp.