Astronomy groups to hold public viewing for the very rare celestial treat on Wednesday

Dubai: Astronomy groups in the UAE are arranging public viewing to offer the best view of the very rare celestial treat of the year — the Super Blue Blood Moon — this Wednesday (January 31).

This lunar trifecta, as Nasa describes it, is a combination of three events at the same time: a blue moon, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse. (See box) The upcoming eclipse will be the “first total eclipse of a blue moon in nearly 152 years,” space.com’s calculation revealed.

To get a front-row seat to view the total eclipse, the east coast in Fujairah is the perfect spot, depending on the weather, Ebrahim Al Jarwan, deputy director-general of the Sharjah Centre for Astronomy and Space Sciences, told Gulf News.

Hassan Al Hariri, CEO of Dubai Astronomy Group, said if the weather is ideal on Wednesday, residents in Dubai will see the total eclipse for about three minutes but Fujairah residents will see it for longer.

“If you are in Fujairah, you will see the total eclipse two minutes earlier than everyone else in the country and will have a longer time to see it — about five minutes — because you are closer to it,” he told Gulf News.

“In Dubai, if you are in Burj Khalifa, you have the advantage of seeing the total eclipse approximately one minute ahead everyone else in Dubai,” he added.

But if you’re not on the east coast and you can’t go to Burj Khalifa, three astronomy groups in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah have got you covered as they are holding special public viewing in their observatories and are giving out fun lectures about the phenomenon on the day.

Residents who want to view the whole celestial treat must be at the three observatories well before sunset or before 6pm in order to get a good view. The total lunar eclipse is visible in the UAE after sunset between 6.03pm and 6.07pm depending on which emirate you’re in and weather permitting. The partial eclipse will last until 7.11pm while the supermoon will last the whole night.

“We will only be able to see a short glimpse of the total eclipse when the moon rises in the UAE unlike in other countries due to the time difference. In countries in the Pacific like the Philippines, they will see the eclipse for a longer period,” Alejandro Palado, observatory director at Al Sadeem Astronomy in Abu Dhabi, said.

Mohammad Talasha, an observer at the Sharjah Centre for Astronomy and Space Sciences, said they are expecting roughly 250 people on January 31. Besides offering the facilities of the centre, they will also hold scientific experiments related to the event.