Australian star-gazers will be treated to a rare celestial spectacle from late Tuesday afternoon, as an annular solar eclipse casts its shadow across the land down under.

Perth will be the first to welcome what will be seen here as a partial eclipse at 1.17pm, followed by Adelaide (3.25pm), Hobart (3.51pm), Melbourne (3.58pm), Canberra (4.08pm), Sydney (4.14pm) and Darwin (4.21pm).

An image of a 2012 solar eclipse. Credit:Jim Katsifolis

But it is Australia's southern-most state that will get the best view of the annular eclipse, which occurs when the sun is obscured by the moon, creating a "ring of fire" effect. With 72 per cent of the sun covered, Tasmanians will experience the closest to a full eclipse, Dr Brad Tucker from the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra said.

And although Australia will be one of the few places in the world where the eclipse is visible, Aussies won't quite have the box seat.