Mars Opposition & Lunar Eclipse from Dubai, UAE

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Jul 30

2018

by Roger Hambleton

The photo above is from the Astronomers Without Borders UAE & UAE Astronomy Group joint Lunar Eclipse & Mars Opposition event held in Dubai on July 27th/28th 2018.

The event was public, and totally free of charge with the explicit goal of using the Lunar Eclipse to introduce people to the wonderful world of amateur astronomy.

The event started promptly at 7pm, and the last guests left at roughly 3:30am.

Approximately 120 people in total took advantage of the event which included:

1. Telescope & binocular observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars (at a dusty opposition), the Moon (including a Total Lunar Eclipse).

2. An introduction to astronomy with tips on how to get started.

3. A presentation touching on the eclipse and what causes it.

4. An introduction to astrophotography.

5. Free Lunar Eclipse stickers.

There were 5 telescopes on site, as well as 3 pairs of binoculars - needless to say there were lines to observe objects.

Naturally, Saturn stole the whole show with people amazed that they could actually see the rings and moons around the planet.

Jupiter gave participants who joined us early a particularly fine show by hiding one moon at the beginning of the night, and then revealing all 4 Galilean Moons by roughly 10pm - this particular situation gave participants a clear understanding of how the Jovian System works, and exactly how rewarding a full night of astronomy can be.

Despite some high clouds, the majority of the eclipse was observable, and dust-covered Mars gave an underwhelming show - but Venus was a surprise delight for some observers who learned that Venus, like our moon, has phases (Venus was 50% illuminated).

Main event organizers were:

- Roger Hambleton - AWB NC for UAE

- Anas Albounni - UAE Astronomy Group

- Souhayl Ben Khaled - UAE Astronomy Group

- Ramiz Qureshi - UAE Astronomy Group

This is certainly not the last event for the AWB UAE & UAE Astronomy Group as plans for a repeat are already in the works.

Anybody who has joined Astronomers Without Borders as a result of our UAE event should look out for future events.

If you have any questions or comments regarding our event, please feel free to contact me.

Roger Hambleton

AWB National Coordinator - UAE