A rare chance to observe a total solar eclipse from Dunedin on July 22, 2028, could prove a big money-spinner for the city, Otago Museum director and astronomer Dr Ian Griffin says.
In a recent tweet, Dr Griffin was ``pretty sure'' that, if the weather co-operated, the solar eclipse, at 4.15pm on July 22, 2028, would be the ``first time humans ever see a total eclipse from this city''.
``The last total eclipse visible from Dunedin was on 27th December 1163.''
The eclipse would be ``visible from my deck'' on Otago Peninsula and would last two minutes and 50 seconds.
``This event will be MUCH BIGGER than Ed Sheeran for Dunedin,'' he tweeted.
And the next total solar eclipse visible from the city would not be until 2466.
Highlighting the upcoming 2028 total eclipse a whole 10 years ahead of time had been ``a little bit of fun'' but, ``all joking aside'', this event would mean big money for Dunedin if the opportunity was seized and planning was done.
The eclipse could also be visible in Central Otago and Sydney, and wintry cloudy weather could disrupt viewing in the South.
``But solar eclipses can be enormously important for tourism.''
Queensland Tourism officials say that more than 50,000 people, including from overseas, flooded into the Australian state to observe a total solar eclipse there in November 2012.
This activity injected about $A70million ($NZ76.3million) into the Queensland economy, and Dunedin could also be a winner, Dr Griffin said.
There was ``growing interest in astronomy'' in Dunedin, and the city could also develop lucrative astronomy-linked ``celestial tourism'', exploiting our relatively dark southern skies.
Dunedin people - weather permitting - would also have a good chance to see a total lunar eclipse in the city this Saturday, starting at 5.14am, peaking at 8.03am and ending at 8.06am, he said.
``It will be a great thing to get up to see the moon,'' he said.
