I was excited last night to see the total eclipse of the moon......hmmm.....sounds like a song--ha-ha!! I had read that it would be one of the two longest lunar eclipses of this century, with the longest one happening in 2018. Just in case....thought I'd try to see it.
I went to bed fairly early (since I've been up at 3:00 a.m. the past two days!), so I planned to wake up before midnight. The best viewing time was between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. It really was a sight to see!!
As you can see on the map, we are in a prime viewing location!!
I was reading up on why the moon appears to be so red. The earth's atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving orange and red colors visible to our eyes. Pollution and particles in the atmosphere make the moon look an even darker shade of red. The eclipse is caused by the earth lining up between the sun and the moon. Earth blocks the sun's rays and casts a shadow on the moon.
My camera is not equipped with enough strength to take pictures with as much detail as I'd like, but Kim and I did snap off a few decent photos. The red color was beautiful!
I was interested in how the eclipse is perceived over in this part of the world. In our local paper, it said
"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.
It was also intriguing to see how many children were riding their bikes and scooters around on the sidewalks at that hour of the night! Not too many parents or nannies to be seen, but lots of little kiddos! Guess they're taking advantage of school being out for many of them. Or maybe it's just because of the eclipse. I guess we'll find out if this will be a regular nightly excursion for them over the next few nights....stay tuned.....
I went to bed fairly early (since I've been up at 3:00 a.m. the past two days!), so I planned to wake up before midnight. The best viewing time was between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. It really was a sight to see!!
As you can see on the map, we are in a prime viewing location!!
I was reading up on why the moon appears to be so red. The earth's atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving orange and red colors visible to our eyes. Pollution and particles in the atmosphere make the moon look an even darker shade of red. The eclipse is caused by the earth lining up between the sun and the moon. Earth blocks the sun's rays and casts a shadow on the moon.
My camera is not equipped with enough strength to take pictures with as much detail as I'd like, but Kim and I did snap off a few decent photos. The red color was beautiful!
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| Partial eclipse: This was Kim's version of taking a photo through the sliding glass doors....thus, the reflection.... |
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| This was not a very clear shot of the moon, but the stars were gorgeous. I don't think they show up well in this reduced resolution photo (reduced so I can upload to the blog). |
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| This one is not my photo! I couldn't capture the bright red color with my camera....so I cheated! :) |
I was interested in how the eclipse is perceived over in this part of the world. In our local paper, it said
"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.
It was also intriguing to see how many children were riding their bikes and scooters around on the sidewalks at that hour of the night! Not too many parents or nannies to be seen, but lots of little kiddos! Guess they're taking advantage of school being out for many of them. Or maybe it's just because of the eclipse. I guess we'll find out if this will be a regular nightly excursion for them over the next few nights....stay tuned.....
Abu Dhabi Time
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