Total lunar eclipse visible in Kuwait on Saturday

A total lunar eclipse is to occur Saturday December 10, 2011, and would be visible in Kuwait after sunrise, said Kuwaiti meteorologists Adel Al-Saadoun and Msaed Al-Hammad on Sunday.

Al-Saadoun told KUNA the eclipse would start with moon rise at 4:45 p.m. and last till 8:00 p.m. It is not a central eclipse and we would see some sunlight on the bottom side, and this would be the last eclipse this year. The year 2011 witnessed four solar eclipses and one lunar eclipses, Saturday's being the second.

A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth comes between the Moon and the Sun, blocking sunrays, and the moon comes to pass the Earth's shadow. This phenomenon happens in the middle of the month on the lunar calendar when the moon is at its fullest.
Meanwhile, Director of the Merzam Observatory meteorologist Msaed Al-Hammad said the eclipsed moon rises after sunset Saturday evening, and ends when the moon completely passes Earth's shadow at 7:18 p.m. Eshaa prayer thus takes place within the duration of the eclipse.

The first stages of the phenomena are not fully visible with the naked eye, though people would be able to discern a change in the moon's brightness, he said, but the total eclipse could be seen without need for telescope or special camera.

Except for changes affecting water bodies on Earth, lunar eclipses have no direct impact on humans circumstance, he said.

"Eclipses are the best proof of accuracy of our meteorological calculations today, as there had never been a miscalculation regarding this phenomenon in the modern era."