First total lunar eclipse of the year on Monday
The first total lunar eclipse of 2022 will occur on Monday (May 16), but UAE sky gazers will only get to see a full moon, while people across certain parts of the world can view the celestial spectacle in all its glory.
Between the night of May 15 and early hours of May 16, some parts of the world will experience the total lunar eclipse witnessing a ‘blood moon’ that is named so, due to the reddish tint from the sunlight filtering through the Earth’s atmosphere.
This phenomenon will be visible across North America, all of South America, Central and Western Europe, and much of Africa (except the extreme eastern part).
Hasan Al Hariri, CEO, Dubai Astronomy Group and Director Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre, said: “This eclipse is a full eclipse which turns the Moon into a reddish colour and therefore is known as the ‘blood moon’.
“It will not be visible from Dubai or the UAE because it’s too far away from us. It will start over the Atlantic Ocean at 2am Greenwich Mean time. On May 16, the Moon will be a Full Moon for us. But the reddish hue will not be visible from here because the eclipse is not visible from our side,” he said.
This eclipse comes after almost a year since the last total lunar eclipse. This month’s full moon is also known as Flower Moon named after the wildflowers blooming in the Northern Hemisphere.
“The eclipse happens when the Moon goes into the Shadow of the Earth. So, the Sun, Earth and Moon will be in one line and the Moon gets eclipsed in this process. So, the light of the Moon becomes less, and it gets dark.
But some of the scattered light that comes out from the atmosphere of the Earth reaches the Moon and instead of making it totally black the Moon becomes reddish.
That’s because the red light has more penetration property than any other light. So, this makes the Moon (more) red in colour.
There will be another eclipse on 25 October. We’ll have a partial eclipse which will be visible from the UAE,” he adds.
The eclipse will last for three hours and 27 minutes and the moon is expected to undergo one hour and 25 minutes of totality (when the moon will be completely covered by the Earth’s shadow).
The second total lunar eclipse will occur on November 8.
This will be visible in parts of Asia, Australia, North America, northern and Eastern Europe, and most of South America.