While 60,000 scientists, astronomers and eclipse chasers flock to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef in northern Queensland to view a total solar eclipse today, Kiwis can also get a glimpse of the rare event when the moon crosses directly in front of the sun.
In New Zealand, Northlanders
were expected to get the best view when it reached ``maximum coverage'' and the moon obscures 89 per cent of the sun at 10.25am in Whangarei.
Farther south the sun would be more visible and would appear as a slim crescent from Earth.
Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand spokesperson Haritina Mogosanu said New Zealanders would not experience the pitch blackness that Cairns would, but warned it would get ``darker and colder'' during the few minutes the moon covered the sun.
