UAE skywatchers set for five-hour Blood Moon during rare total lunar eclipse

Celestial show on Sunday to be visible from all seven emirates

A Blood Moon occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up perfectly. Photo: Andrew McCarthy

A rare total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon, will be visible across the UAE on Sunday evening, treating skywatchers to one of the year’s most dramatic celestial sights.

The celestial show will appear for about five and a half hours, as the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow.

It will play out in a sequence of phases, visible across the UAE and around the world.

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“This is one of the rare astronomical events happening in the UAE in 2025,” Khadijah Ahmed, operations manager at the Dubai Astronomy Group, told The National. “We will host an event for the eclipse and encourage everyone to witness it. You don’t need any special equipment – just go outside and look up.”

It will be visible to about 87 per cent of the world’s population, including those in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.

Timeline of the dramatic phases

It begins at 7.28pm GST, when the Moon enters the faint outer edge of Earth’s shadow in what is known as the penumbral phase. The change will be faint at first, but by 8.27pm it will look as though a dark bite has been taken out of the Moon.

Totality, when the Moon is covered completely by the Earth’s shadow, will take place at 9.30pm, turning the lunar surface a striking shade of red or copper.

The Moon will turn red as it passes through the Earth's shadow. Photo: Dubai Astronomy Group

The eclipse reaches its peak at 10.12pm and totality continues until 10.53pm.

From there, the shadow will gradually recede, until the eclipse has ended just before 1am on Monday. The Moon will spend 82 minutes fully eclipsed, making it one of the longest total lunar eclipses in years.

Why it happens

A total lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up perfectly, with the planet casting its shadow across the Moon.

Instead of disappearing, the Moon takes on a dramatic new look because sunlight bends through Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out the blues and lets the red and orange tones shine, giving it the Blood Moon moniker.

Where to watch the eclipse

The eclipse will be visible across all seven emirates, but skywatchers interested in a community experience can observe it with the Dubai Astronomy Group.

It is hosting a public viewing event at the Mohammed bin Rashid Library from 7pm to 11pm, with tickets priced at Dh250 ($68) for adults and Dh200 for children.

There will be telescopes and astronomy-themed activities.

The organisation will also lead a global livestream, in collaboration with observatories and astronomy groups from more than a dozen countries including Spain, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The group is also plans to capture an image of the Moon eclipsed over Burj Khalifa.

Long wait for the next one

Those who miss Sunday’s spectacle will have to wait until July 6, 2028, to view another lunar eclipse in the UAE's skies.

That will only be a partial eclipse, with a portion of the Moon darkened by the Earth’s shadow. The next total lunar eclipse in the UAE will be on December 31, 2028 – a New Year’s Eve Blood Moon that will last more than five hours.