Southern New Zealand residents are among a select few in the world who may get a good view of a partial solar eclipse tonight provided the sky is cloudless.
The eclipse will sweep across the southern part of the world, with the moon covering about 90% of the sun at the South Pole.
Only viewers close to the Antarctic - in Cape Town, South Africa, at sunrise, and in Tasmania and the South Island near sunset - will be able to see it.
In Otago, the eclipse would take 74 minutes, from 8.03pm to 9.17pm, Dunedin Astronomical Society president Peter Jaquiery said yesterday.
The maximum eclipse, when about 30% of the sun would be shaded, would happen about 8.40pm.
The best view would be obtained looking at the western horizon, Mr Jaquiery said.
He urged people not to look directly at the sun.
"You absolutely need eye protection, and that doesn't mean sunglasses. One of the best methods is to punch a small hole in a piece of cardboard and hold it up to the sun while you look away from the sun at the sun's image projected on to the ground or another piece of cardboard."
People should not try to look at the eclipse through telescopes or binoculars either, he said, because the sun would damage both eyes and equipment.
While tonight's eclipse was interesting, Mr Jaquiery said astronomers were much more excited about the next transit of Venus - where the planet Venus passes across the face of the sun over a period of about six hours - which will happen in early June next year.
