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Article updated: 11/3/2012 8:54 AM

Tourists head to Australia for solar eclipse

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Tourists take pictures at the site of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt during a partial solar eclipse. Solar eclipses typically attract tourists who travel around the world to remote places to witness the celestial phenomenon.

Associated Press

A solar eclipse appeared in the sky over Yokohama, Japan, in May. Australia is expecting 50,000 visitors for a Nov. 14 solar eclipse that will be visible from the Cairns-Port Douglas area in Queensland.

Associated Press

George Bugbee, left, Diane Bugbee and Dali and Eli Maor, in Mongolia where they had traveled to watch a solar eclipse. The Bugbees are traveling to watch their fourth solar eclipse on Nov. 14 in Cairns, Australia.

courtesy of Linda Bugbee

Linda Bugbee, left, her son Matt, astronomy professor Alex Filippenko and Linda's husband, George Bugbee, in Mongolia where they had traveled with a tour to watch a solar eclipse.

Courtesy of Linda Bugbee

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Shortly after dawn on Wednesday, Nov. 14, the temperature will drop slightly in northern Australia and the sky will grow darker as the moon begins to pass in front of the sun. Weather permitting, travelers will see a black disk with the sun's glowing corona stretching beyond it. "Totality" — the darkness resulting from a total eclipse of the sun — will last just over two minutes. More than 50,000 tourists are expected to travel to Australia to see the eclipse.