UAE | Environment
Moon to hide behind the Sun tonight
Residents will witness the second and last lunar eclipse of the year tonight, when the Earth will come between the Sun and Moon, only to obscure less than a quarter of the Moon's surface.
- By Rania Habib, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 7, 2006
- The phases of the Moon that appear in the sky during a lunar eclipse.
- Image Credit: WAM
Abu Dhabi: Residents will witness the second and last lunar eclipse of the year tonight, when the Earth will come between the Sun and Moon, only to obscure less than a quarter of the Moon's surface.
The first phase of the partial lunar eclipse, also known as the penumbral phase, will begin at 8.42pm, but Engineer Mohammad Shawkat Odeh of the UAE Astronomical Society explained that the penumbral phase of a lunar eclipse is not noticeable to the naked eye.
"There won't be anything to see, until the second phase of the eclipse begins, or the umbral phase. This will start at 10.05pm and last for about an hour-and- half. The maximum eclipse will be at 10.51pm, when 19 per cent of the moon will be obscured."
The partial lunar eclipse will end at 1.16am, and residents in all Gulf countries can witness the entire stellar event.
"Western Australia, the Indian Ocean, Asia and the eastern parts of Africa will witness the partial eclipse from beginning to end," said Odeh.
"Western Africa and Europe will only witness the beginning of the eclipse. People can watch the eclipse from anywhere, as lunar eclipses only happen during a full moon. Today, the Moon will become full at exactly 10.42pm."
The last lunar eclipse witnessed in the UAE was in March. "There will be a solar eclipse on September 22, but we will not be able to see it from here," said Odeh. "The next lunar eclipse will be a total one which will be seen across the Arab world, and will happen on March 3, 2007."
Share this article
More from UAE Environment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
The best reader pictures from around the emirates this week
Latest news
- National Day decorations
- Girl dies in fire started by stepbrother
- A road that is best avoided
- Motorists, pedestrians urged to be more careful
- Security services work round-the-clock
- Dubai to open seven new parks
- 'I want to show anyone can celebrate'
- Dubai to introduce 900km of cycling lanes
- Tougher policing brings down Dubai road deaths
- UAE National Day: Preparations in full swing
- Universities celebrate UAE National Day
- Brothers' triple success
- Reviving age-old craftsmanship
- Youth reconnect with history
- Fatima: UAE's women are exercising full rights
Community Reports
-
A road that is best avoided
Thoroughfare connecting capital's Hamdan Street and Electra Street poses safety and health hazards
-
Please don't use two parking spaces
Thoughtless drivers means other motorists are losing out in a city where places to leave cars are often hard to find
-
School buses must do safe drop-offs
Some bus drivers let students off at the wrong side of the road
-
Munching on a health hazard
Residents must be careful about consuming snacks and sandwiches prepared along the roadside as they attract dirt and bacteria
