Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Like most other parts of the world, people in Saudi Arabia watched the "blood moon", the longest total lunar eclipse of the century, Friday night.

As the total eclipse started, people stepped out of their homes to witness the celestial spectacle in all its glory. The astronomical observatory at King Abdulaziz University held a viewing event at the campus. Similar events were held at Taif, Al-Khobar, Riyadh and many other parts of the Kingdom providing the public an opportunity to witness the longest lunar eclipse of the century.

The dean of the Department of Astronomy at King Abdulaziz University Dr. Hassan Bin Mohammed Assiri explained that the department monitored and documented the phenomenon from the city of Jeddah through a number of telescopes and astronomical devices. He pointed out that the eclipse was the second and final one this year.

The full eclipse lasted for 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, according to astronomical experts in the Kingdom.

Thousands of people gazed the sky to see the moon, which darkened and turned orange, brown and scarlet as it penetrated the Earth, while dust obscured the vision of the “eclipse of the century” in some parts of the Kingdom.

Special prayers were held in mosques across Saudi Arabia during the eclipse in accordance with the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). People were informed of the eclipse prayer at night after the Friday prayer.

Dr. Faisal Gazzawi led the prayers in the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

Majed Abu Zahra, president of Jeddah Astronomy Society, explained how the moon took on the red hue.

"It's called a blood moon because the light from the sun goes through the Earth's atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the Earth's atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down it goes red," he said.