Regional planning guide · 22 July 2028
Kimberley total solar eclipse guide
The eclipse reaches the Kimberley in the late morning on 22 July 2028. NASA places the centre line near 13°20.5′S, 122°06.6′E at 02:40 UTC (10:40 AWST), with about 5 minutes 7 seconds of totality. That coordinate is a geometric reference, not a recommended viewing venue. A workable site must be inside the path and have lawful access, a safe road route, adequate supplies, communications and a clear north-eastern sky.
- Regional time
- About 10:40–11:00 AWST
- Centre-line duration
- About 5:07–5:09
- Sun altitude
- About 51–53°
- Site status
- No field is endorsed
What the path table establishes
NASA's centre-line table gives samples, not tourism sites. At 02:40 UTC the centre is 13°20.5′S, 122°06.6′E, with 5:07.1 of totality, solar altitude 51° and azimuth 30°. At 03:00 UTC it is 16°20.7′S, 128°01.8′E, with 5:08.8, the Sun 53° high and azimuth 13°. Greatest eclipse occurs between those rows at 02:55:26.9 UTC, 15°34.4′S, 126°42.4′E; NASA lists 5:09.7 and a path about 230.2 kilometres wide. Add eight hours to convert UTC to AWST.
Coordinates do not establish a public road, campsite, landowner approval, phone coverage or rescue capacity. NASA also notes that lunar topography can shift a calculated boundary by roughly 1–3 kilometres and contact times by roughly 1–3 seconds. Avoid the nominal edge where practical and recalculate the exact observing point close to 2028.
Turn geometry into a lawful site
Identify whether a candidate is public land, Aboriginal land, conservation estate, pastoral lease or private property. Obtain permission from the responsible authority; a pin visible on a map is not permission to enter. Check Main Roads WA's Travel Map before every leg for closures, flood damage, works and unsealed-road conditions. Do not use a route beyond the vehicle, tyres, fuel reserve or driver's recovery skill.
The WA Department of Transport advises regional drivers to plan fuel and rest stops, allow for long distances between roadhouses and know how to share roads with road trains. Carry drinking water, food, first aid, sun protection and suitable spares. Tell someone the route and return time. Where mobile reception is unreliable, carry a fit-for-purpose satellite communicator or personal locator beacon and understand how it works before departure.
Weather and horizon decisions
The Sun is relatively high, but trees, escarpments, smoke, dust and local cloud still matter. Inspect the calculated solar azimuth from the actual standing point. This guide gives no invented Kimberley “clear-sky percentage”: a defensible value would need a named station, observation period, cloud metric and evidence that it represents the chosen site. Use Bureau of Meteorology forecasts and observations in the final window and keep a fallback that does not require unsafe last-minute travel.
Eclipse-day sequence
- Arrive before eclipse morning if access and accommodation rules permit.
- Recheck road, fire, park and land notices before leaving service coverage.
- Set up away from traffic and keep gates and emergency routes clear.
- Use viewers conforming to ISO 12312-2 whenever bright photosphere is visible. Optics need a purpose-made front-aperture filter.
- Remove viewers only during confirmed totality at the exact site, and replace them immediately when sunlight returns.
- Let traffic disperse or stay overnight instead of joining a fatigued post-eclipse rush.
Managed viewing areas, permits and transport arrangements may change before 2028. This page therefore does not invent a field or promise services. The final decision must combine current eclipse calculations, current access, current road information and the forecast close to 22 July 2028.
Turning the two samples into a duration at your own coordinate
The 02:40 and 03:00 UTC rows above are two points on a continuous curve, not the only two calculable moments. Duration falls the further a coordinate sits from the true centre line at that instant, reaching zero at the path's northern and southern limits. A coordinate roughly halfway between the two sample points will have a duration and Sun position roughly, but not exactly, between the two listed values, because the path's width and orientation both change along its length. This is why a full ephemeris calculation for the exact intended coordinate - not linear interpolation between two published rows - is the only reliable way to get a site-specific duration.
The same caution applies to the path's edge: NASA's stated path width of about 230 kilometres is a north-south measurement at one instant, not a fixed corridor width along the whole route. Treat any coordinate within a few kilometres of a calculated edge as a partial-eclipse site until a fresh calculation for that exact point says otherwise, regardless of how confident a map overlay looks at typical everyday zoom levels.
Western Australia's 1922 eclipse expedition
The state's most famous eclipse was observed further south. In 1922 an international team camped at Wallal Downs on Eighty Mile Beach and used totality to test Einstein's prediction that the Sun bends starlight; their plates were the most successful of that year's expeditions. Read the story of the Wallal expedition. Wallal itself is outside the 2028 path.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Kimberley a realistic option without a 4WD or remote-travel experience?
Only with serious preparation. This is genuinely remote country with long distances between services; treat the WA regional-driving guidance above as a minimum, not a formality, before committing to it over an easier-access site.
Why doesn't this page name a specific viewing field?
Because no field here is endorsed or verified for public access, and a named site invites readers to treat an unverified pin as a guarantee. Verify land status and access yourself before travelling.
This page follows the site's correction policy: factual errors are fixed and the date above changes so the fix is visible.