A rare lunar eclipse will be visible in the UAE on Sunday, September 6.
The International Astronomical Centre has announced it will broadcast the total lunar eclipse live from the Al Khattm Astronomical Observatory on Sunday evening, with the livestream running from 7.30pm to 11.50pm UAE time.
Mohammed Shawkat Odah, Director of the International Astronomical Centre, explained that the eclipse will be visible in varying degrees across the Arab world.
UAE eclipse
He said: “The Moon will rise in the eastern part of the region before the start of the eclipse, while it will appear above the horizon in the central Arab world during its early stages, and it will rise in the western part of the region during the final stages of the phenomenon”.
The eclipse will unfold in successive phases:
- 7.28pm: Moon enters penumbra shadow
- 8.27pm: Partial eclipse begins
- 9.31pm: Total eclipse starts
- 10.12pm: Peak of the eclipse
- 10.53pm: Total eclipse ends
- 11.57pm: Partial eclipse ends
- 12.55am (Monday) : Eclipse concludes
Odah noted the eclipse will be clearly visible to the naked eye between 8.15pm and 12.15am. During the total eclipse, the Moon will not vanish completely but will typically glow in yellow, orange, or red hues due to sunlight refracting through Earth’s atmosphere.
He added that the Moon’s brightness and colour reflect the atmosphere’s purity, with heavy pollution making it appear dark red or brown in the UAE.
In rare cases, the Moon can disappear entirely, as it did during the December 12, 1992 eclipse, when the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines (June 1991) affected the Earth’s atmosphere.
