Mark your diaries for July 27, astronomy fans…

Astronomy fans are in for a treat this month, as the longest lunar eclipse of the century is expected to occur this July. The total lunar eclipse will be visible in Dubai on the evening of Friday July 27, into the early hours of Saturday.

The full eclipse will begin at around 11.30pm, optimum time for viewing the eclipse will be around twenty past midnight, lasting until about 1.15am on Saturday.

The total time of the full eclipse is predicted at 1 hour and 43 minutes, while the duration of the overall eclipse from beginning to end is an impressive 6 hours and 14 minutes.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the earth, sun and moon are perfectly aligned. The earth’s shadow blocks the suns light as the moon passes through the centre of the shadow. On this occasion, this will turn the moon a blood red colour, which provided good weather conditions, will be visible to the naked eye in Dubai.

It will be January 2019 before another total lunar eclipse occurs, according to the Dubai Astronomy Group.

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