Wednesday night's the night for a celestial treat

posted on 15/06/2011: 170 views

People across the country, like much of the world, would see the moon turning into a red ball Wednesday night with one of the century's longest total lunar eclipse.

The nature's grand spectacle has already created a great curiosity among the sky-watchers and a fear among those who believe that eclipses are punishments given to the planets for the sins committed by human beings.

Atif Hassan, an amateur astronomer in Al Ain, said people should pay special attention to the Moon's colour. "It will become softly glowing coppery-red during the full eclipse," he said.

Atmosphere

The earth's atmosphere filters out most of the blue coloured light, leaving orange and red colours to reach the human eyes during a lunar eclipse. He said particles in the atmosphere and pollution will actually cause the moon to appear even more darker shade of red.

A lunar eclipse occurs when earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays and casting a shadow on the moon. A similar spectacle appears at the time of sunset when sunlight becomes reddish-orange, he added.

Marc Rouleau, Coordinator at The Planetarium of the Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology, said the moon will start turning grey at 9:23pm when it will enter the penumbra (the early shadow of the Earth). The Earth's core shadow called umbra will start covering the moon exactly an hour later at 10:23pm.

The shadow will completely cover the moon at 11:22pm. The eclipse will end at 1:03am UAE time after a whopping three hours and 40 minutes, said Marc. It will be visible almost everywhere in the world except North America, said astronomers who have been describing this time of the year as an eclipse season.

It would be one of the two longest total lunar eclipses of the century. A total of 85 total lunar eclipses, according to the scientists, will take place this century of which the longest total eclipse will occur on July 27, 2018. Wednesday night's eclipse will be just three minutes shorter than that.

Third eclipse of 2011

Astronomers said Wednesday night's phenomenon would be the third eclipse of 2011. A partial solar eclipse was witnessed earlier this month on June 1. It was visible only over the Arctic during the new moon. There will be another partial solar eclipse on July 1, followed by yet another partial solar eclipse on November 25. People will also be able to see the second total lunar eclipse of the year again on December 10.

Religious beliefs

Astronomers said that people always ask about the effects of the eclipse. It, however, has no dangerous impact on human beings but many people associate their superstitions with this natural phenomenon.

"In Islam, though no superstition is associated with the eclipse, Muslims do offer prayer at the time of the eclipse, storms, and any natural phenomenon that can horrify human beings," said Hassan Ahmad Al Hariri, president of Dubai Astronomy Group.

Ancient records of eclipse were made in China and Babylonia. Scientists believe the oldest record of lunar eclipse was made more than 4,000 years ago.

Watch it: venue for public viewing

Dubai Astronomy Group has made elaborate arrangements in partnership with the Omar Bin Khattab Model School in Deira, Dubai to view the eclipse. The group has invited professional and amateur astronomers as well as general public to witness the spectacle. The event begins at 9pm and 2am at the school. "We will have two teams, one will take photos and videos, and the other will present the eclipse on a screen to the spectators," he said.

The DAG will install three telescopes at the school along with other equipment for detailed view of the eclipse. "We will also make arrangements for special prayers during the eclipse," said Al Hariri. – Gulf News

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