UAE turns its eyes to the skies for darkness at noon

Serious stargazers joined the slightly curious to watch yesterday's partial eclipse, the last one here until 2019.

Hundreds of people, including Saeed Mazmi, 11, gathered outside Sharjah Science Museum to observe the partial eclipse.

DUBAI // Hundreds of spectators looked skywards yesterday to catch a glimpse of the last solar eclipse that will be visible in the UAE for the next eight years.

On the steps of the Burj Khalifa, scores of people donned tinfoil glasses to peer at the heavens as the moon cast a shadow on at least 20 per cent of the sun.

The partial eclipse will be the last one visible from the UAE until 2019, but then the region will have a front-row seat to a spectacular annular solar eclipse.

"There will be a gap of eight years, but after that we will get good fortune," said Hasan al Hariri, the president of the Dubai Astronomy Group, the association that organised yesterday's event in Dubai.

A buzz went through the crowd when a sunspot was observed on the sun at a little past noon, the first sign that the eclipse was starting.

For the next two-and-a-half hours, scores of enthusiasts gathered around three telescopes that were set up to safely observe different aspects of the moon's progression as it moved over the sun.

Although there was a handful of dedicated stargazers, the majority of people who turned up to the event in Dubai were simply curious.

"It's the first time in my life I've seen something like this," said Ahmad Mohsin, a 15-year-old Emirati who came with his class from Omar bin Al Khattab Model School in Dubai. "When I grow up I'd like to be an astronomer."

Elsewhere in the country, hundreds gathered outside Sharjah Science Museum to observe the partial eclipse.

Abdel Hamid Bani Yas, an instructor at the museum, said that they distributed more than 300 tinfoil glasses and small mirrors on which people could reflect the image of the eclipse of the sun on to a wall.

Mr Bani Yas said that although it was moderately cloudy, it was still possible to see the sun for a large portion of the afternoon.

There will be four partial solar eclipses this year, mostly in Europe and South America. The next full eclipse will be next year in Australia, and Mr al Hariri said he hoped to attend.

"I have seen many eclipses, so many I can't remember," he said. "I've been following them since I was small. I've travelled far to see them. Every time there was an eclipse, I was on top of it."

Eclipse tourism is a growing business. One firm offering vacations focused on solar eclipses is US-based Twilight Tours.

The founder, Joel Harris, said the company arranged for a large group to see the full eclipse over Easter Island, in Chile, last year and had planned to take people to Australia next year.

Mr Harris said that he had not received any interest in people wanting to visit the Emirates to watch the partial eclipse yesterday.

"Partial eclipses, while interesting, are nowhere near as dramatic or marketable as either totals or annular eclipses," he said.

There were just over 100 people in Dubai yesterday, significantly short of the 2,000 people invited through membership of the Dubai Astronomy Group. However, the event did not fail to attract hard-core devotees.

Wearing a T-shirt with a design comprising galaxies arranged in the shape of Einstein's face, Alex, a former Nasa employee, said that he had been fascinated by stargazing from an early age.

"My wife and I have seen many eclipses," he said. "I'm more of a deep space man, though. Now and then we take the telescope out to Bab al Shams area to watch meteor showers. It's breathtaking."