# July 2018 Lunar Eclipse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2018, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884 "2018-07-14T08:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/1 "2018-07-14T08:10:03Z")
So Saudi Arabia is a prime viewing location for next Friday’s lunar eclipse. The period of totality will last 103 minutes, the longest this century. (I was also here for a total solar eclipse, by the way.) I am having a hard time finding out, or figuring out when the eclipse will begin and end here in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. I simply do not know how to work the tables. Can someone help? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/2 "2018-07-14T08:34:41Z")
This page [here](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2018-july-27) may work for you. It gives me the time in Portland for the eclipse, so it will probably give you the same for your location. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/3 "2018-07-14T09:54:38Z")
My goodness! That is really a great page. It starts at 17.15 and ends at 23.45 or so. Thank you so much. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/4 "2018-07-14T12:29:40Z")
… and remember … never look directly at the sun without eye-protection … even at night … ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/5 "2018-07-14T12:52:43Z")
Saw a pretty close to full eclipse last summer in Colorado. Used a welding helmet to view it. Even that can be a bit dangerous depending on the rating of the glass. It was pretty cool. Never got dark by any means. It just looked different outside. A pinhole projector is a way to see it safely. Lots of sites for that. Here is one - [DIY Box Pinhole Projector to See a Solar Eclipse](https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/box-pinhole-projector.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/6 "2018-07-14T12:57:30Z")
He’s talking about a lunar eclipse, not a solar one. No special precautions are needed for a lunar eclipse, since the brightest object in the sky is the Moon. Lunar eclipses happen at the same time for everyone on the Earth who can see it: That is to say, if you’re in Saudi Arabia, and you call up a friend in Poland and say “Hey, the eclipse is starting!”, they’ll say “Yeah, I see it”. So once you find any time, it’s just a matter of converting the time zone. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/7 "2018-07-14T13:16:48Z")
My apologies … too early in the thread for whooshing I guess … ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/8 "2018-07-14T13:47:47Z")
Whoops. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/9 "2018-07-14T14:42:45Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > My goodness! That is really a great page. It starts at 17.15 and ends at 23.45 or so. > > Thank you so much. Does Saudi Arabia use UTC? Because that page says it starts at 17:14 UTC. I would expect Saudi to be a couple hours or so ahead of UTC. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/10 "2018-07-14T14:55:49Z")
In a sense, everybody uses UTC, but local time in Saudi Arabia is always UTC+3. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-2018-lunar-eclipse/817884/11 "2018-07-15T03:32:22Z")
All the source information can be accessed here (pdfs): [NASA - Lunar Eclipse Page](https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/lunar.html)