Lunar eclipse thrills sky-watchers in Dubai

Dubai: Dozens of people turned up at the Al Mamzar Lagoon location set up by the Dubai Astronomy Group on Saturday to watch the Moon enter the dark shadow of the Earth at 11.36pm.

"It was quite a beautiful sight," said Hasan Ahmad Al Hariri, president of the group. "The Moon turned a reddish hue."

Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon always come in pairs. The partial lunar eclipse on Saturday came after the total eclipse of the Sun this month.

A partial eclipse of the Moon occurs when it glides deep through the northern edge of the dark shadow (umbra) of the Earth.

"The eclipse was about 90 per cent," said Al Hariri, leaving only the Moon's upper portion still visible.

The partial lunar eclipse could be seen throughout most of the world, except North America. It ended at 2.40pm local time. The Astronomy Group set up three telescopes for the public at the Lagoon.

Ekta Bhatia, who was waiting patiently for the show in the heavens above, said she was very excited.

Latifa Khamis, an Emirati girl, said she was thrilled to see the Moon so close up through the telescope.

Mudafar Al Nuaimi, a 60-year-old Arab, only said the words, "By the Grace of Allah".

Al Hariri said the group arranges these events to make people learn about astronomy and also to discourage them from believing in superstitions. He said he received dozens of calls before the event from people asking about the effects of the eclipse.

The weather was really bad before the eclipse started, he said. "But we knew precisely when the 'Rawyah' winds would stop and the dust storm would lift," he said.

The winds are the after-effects of the Indian monsoon, he said, and sometimes can reach 100 km/h.

The next lunar eclipse will be total and will occur on December 21, 2010.

With inputs from Hadrian Hernandez