Having read in the media that Dubai would be the best place in the world to catch tonight’s lunar eclipse, I’m staying up late to watch the celestial show.

And what a performance!

The moon turned an eerie shade of red as the Earth passed between it and the sun. Then the strange, football-like disc was swallowed by the shadow until the moon was completely blotted out. Erased from the inky-black sky as though it no longer existed.

What if it doesn’t come back, I wondered? And was the bright dot I could see just below the eclipse Mars? Could it even be the start of the apocalypse? I could really see why the sight of the blood moon has inspired awe and fear throughout history, blamed on this god or that by those who had no understanding of what causes eclipses.

I’m happy to report that the moon is now winning, reappearing slowly and surely – first a curved, pencil line of white light, then a dazzling crescent that grew bigger each time I glanced up. Now a half moon, It’s coming back more brilliant than before, whiter and sharper than ever, like it disappeared into the wash to be laundered with bleach.

While I’d love to stay up and watch it morph into a proud, full moon again, it really is time I went to bed. Night all! I’ll leave you with some very amateur photos – and a pic nabbed from Reuters.

Going…going…gone