The eclipse path of December 4th, 2002 passed over Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and a small part of Mozambique before running across the Indian Ocean to sun set in the south of Australia. This eclipse was short, reaching just over 2 minutes at the maximum, in the middle of the ocean. The maximum time for land viewing was southern Africa where the weather forecasts called for the beginning of the rainy season and thus clouds. Australia was given the best weather prospects but the eclipse would be near sunset and only a scant 30 seconds in duration.