Dozens soak up rare spectacle from Sharjah

Sharjah: More than 100 people gathered in Sharjah yesterday to witness the longest annual solar eclipse of the millennium.

The phenomenon, which will not happen again for 1,000 years, was only 33 per cent partial in the UAE.

Dozens of families watched the spectacle at the Sharjah Science Museum, which also held numerous activities to raise awareness of the eclipse and safe sun observation.

Visitors were granted access to the centre's range of technical devices, such as reflector telescopes, sunspotters and solarscopes, to witness the eclipse.

An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but does not completely obscure it, thus leaving a ring of sunlight flaring around the lunar disk.

Ghada Abdullah, Planetarium Curator, said: "We believe that children are the core of society. That is why we are giving them the chance to learn more about solar energy and its applications by observing solar houses and the solar cooker.

"It was a really nice morning and we were really lucky to have clear skies to witness the phenomenon. We also held a lecture about the eclipse and used mirrors to reflect the image of the partially covered sun."

The Sharjah Science Museum is also holding scientific shows for the public ever weekday from 4pm to 8pm.

For more information visit http://www.sharjahtourism.ae