Abu Dhabi Astronomy

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

2023-04-02T10:24:00.005+04:00

Deep sky astrophotography is a technique used to capture images of objects in space that are beyond our solar system. This can include galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, among other celestial objects.

To take deep sky astrophotographs, you typically need a telescope with a motorized mount to track the motion of the stars as they move across the sky. You also need a camera capable of long exposure photography to capture the faint light emitted by these distant objects.

The process of deep sky astrophotography involves taking multiple long exposure images of the same object and then combining them using specialized software to create a final image with greater detail and clarity. This technique is called stacking, and it helps to reduce the impact of noise and other artifacts that can be present in individual images.

Deep sky astrophotography can be a challenging but rewarding hobby. It requires patience, attention to detail, and a willingness to invest in high-quality equipment. However, the results can be truly breathtaking, allowing us to explore the wonders of the universe in a way that would not be possible otherwise.

BLOG TRANSFER..

2016-01-08T01:06:00.002+04:00

Dear followers and readers,

The blogs and news about Abu Dhabi Astronomy was transferred to it's own website. Please follow us at abudhabiastronomy.com

OCTOBER 2015 TRIVIA

2015-10-06T12:11:00.003+04:00

The longest night month of 2015 starts at the new moon of October 13, 00:06 hour UTC to the new moon of November 11, 2015 that last for 29 days 17 hours and 41 minutes. It is longer by 4 hours and 57 minutes than the mean lunar of 29 days 12 hours and 44 minutes.

ASTRONOMY DAY CELEBRATION

2015-09-19T15:21:00.000+04:00

The Picture speaks by itself.

The first celebration of Astronomy Day in Abu Dhabi or even the entire UAE was successful. The aim of the activity was make people more aware about astronomy. To my surprise as the organizer of this event, I didn't not expect that much people's respond to the advertisement of celebrating with the entire world the Astronomy Day.

We, from Abu Dhabi Astronomy wants to thank the management and staffs of The Mall at World Trade Center Abu Dhabi. They accommodate as and help us a lot with the event.

Children and adults enjoyed as they participate in dancing and astronomy trivia games. The excitement and enjoyment added when the winners received their prize. Thank you for the generosity of Night Sky LLC astronomy shop in helping as make the event possible.

"We are looking for a next event..." that's what most of the parents comment after the event. And we from Abu Dhabi Astronomy encouraged to work more to introduce astronomy in the land of Abu Dhabi.

SUMMER SOLSTICE FALLS ON FATHER'S DAY

2015-06-20T17:55:00.002+04:00

The Summer Solstice

The summer solstice heralds the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The timing of the summer solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point of the equator.

This 2015, the summer begins with the solstice on June 21 at 12:38 P.M. EDT. and on this year, Father's Day is also celebrated!

Where the word solstice came from? It is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice).

In temperate regions, we notice that the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer.

This summer solstice is the day where we have the most hours of sunlight during the whole year.

At the winter solstice, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its southernmost point and is low in the sky. Its rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an oblique angle, creating the feeble winter sunlight.

timeanddate.com

In Abu Dhabi June Solstice falls exactly on June 21st 2015, 20:39 GST with a total day length of 13 hours, 39 minutes and 11 seconds. On this day it is 3 hours, 2 minutes longer than on December Solstic.

The sun rises at 05:34 and sets on 19:14

STRANGE SOUNDS HEARD AROUND THE WORLD... WHAT IS THE MEANING?

2015-06-09T23:24:00.000+04:00

The Map shows different places where people heard an strange sound from the sky.

One of the hottest topic over the internet/social media this past few months or even years is when someone posted video that contain a strange sound. Initially people didn't pay attention about it not until someone collected all these videos and put them together and posted over the internet and became viral. Some sounds are creepy in nature and some sounds like a trumpet.

Many speculations and interpretations was made to give answer to this mysterious sounds from the sky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6sweWwFGg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71rGrS6k-cI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9qipbtjQlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iG-MofmHPw

Then I remember during the Abu Dhabi Science Festival 2014, I saved and recorded the sounds from the outer space recorded by NASA which is resembled to these sounds that are circulated over the internet. This different sounds was used as part of our exhibit during the festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MmWeZHsQzs
The sounds recorded from different planets.

You’ve probably heard that there’s no sound in space, but technically that’s not true. Now yes, space is a virtual vacuum….. However, sound does exist in the form of electromagnetic vibrations that pulsate in similar wavelengths. What NASA did was design special instruments that could record these electromagnetic vibrations, and transferred them into sounds that our ears could hear.What you’ve heard is actual sound in space, nothing has been added. It’s a beautiful, yet creepy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfc8_1b890U
The upper link shows the sound of our very own sun.
Our Sun lies 93,000,000 miles away, surrounded by the vacuum of space. Sound won't travel through space, of course. But with the right instrument, scientists can "hear" pulsations from the Sun.

The entire Sun vibrates from a complex pattern of acoustical waves, much like a bell. If your eyes were sharp enough, you could see a bell's surface jiggle in complex patterns as the waves bounced around within it. Likewise, astronomers at Stanford University can record acoustical pressure waves in the Sun by carefully tracking movements on the Sun's surface. To do this, they use an instrument called a Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), mounted on the SOHO spacecraft, circling the Sun 1,000,000 miles from Earth. The Sun's acoustical waves bounce from one side of the Sun to the other in about two hours, causing the Sun's surface to oscillate, or wiggle up and down. Because these sound waves travel underneath the Sun's surface, they are influenced by conditions inside the Sun. So scientists can use the oscillations to learn more about how the structure of the Sun's interior shapes its surface. The Sun's sound waves are normally at frequencies too low for the human ear to hear. To be able to hear them, the scientists sped up the waves 42,000 times -- and compressed 40 days of vibrations into a few seconds. What you'll be hearing are just a few dozen of the 10 million resonances echoing inside the Sun.

Now we know, even in the stellar space there an actual sound but cannot be heard by human ear. The past years to the present more and more people heard same sounds from out there. Are sounds showing us of something danger in the future, it is an apocalyptic warning, or it just shows that the universe is changing.....

ABU DHABI ASTRONOMY PHOTO OF THE WEEK

2015-06-02T11:11:00.002+04:00

M8 LAGOON NEBULA

Photo taken by an Astrophotographer from Abu Dhabi Wajih Uddin

follow him on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/wajihu

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, and as NGC 6523) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as a H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core.

The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000-6,000 light years from the Earth. In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulas, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by E. E. Barnard as B88, B89 and B296. It also includes a funnel-like or tornado-like structure caused by a hot O-type star that emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula (so named by John Herschel), which should not be confused with the better known Hourglass Nebula in the constellation of Musca. In 2006 the first four Herbig–Haro objects were detected within the Hourglass, also including HH 870.

ABU DHABI ASTRONOMY PHOTO OF THE WEEK

2015-05-26T06:58:00.002+04:00

The whirlpool galaxy (M51), taken from Abu Dhabi desert on 24/04/2015. The temperature was too high for my camera. The image processing was very tricky! - David Attie

Telescope: C11+focal reducer 0.63x (focal length=1764mm

Camera: EOS 450d modified +CLS-CCD filter

Exposures : 10x5 minutes (800 iso)

11 darks

11 flats

50 bias

The Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194) is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Recently it was estimated to be 23 ± 4 million light-years from the Milky Way, but different methods yield distances between 15 and 35 million LY. Messier 51 is one of the best known galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion (NGC 5195) are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers, who study it to further understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

WEEK END STARGAZING WITH GAA

2015-05-24T12:48:00.000+04:00

May 21, 2015 at Al Wathba, Al Qaissieh private farm, Abu Dhabi Astronomy and GEMS American Academy joint together and spent a Thursday night with Faculty and Students. The weather favored us and allowed us to enjoy the trip. Two students amazed to see the moon in real for the first time and added their excitement when they saw planet Venus through telescopes.

We are lucky to have the crescent moon, Planet Venus, Jupiter and its moons, Saturn and its moons and Binary Stars right through the eye piece. The experience was great and what makes it more wonderful is to have the two groups tightened it's relationship to promote Astronomy to the people of Abu Dhabi.

PLANETARIUM SHOWS AT GEMS AMERICAN ACADEMY

2015-04-28T16:36:00.000+04:00

A correction for the last time posted for the Planetarium shows on

MAY 2, 20015

the timing are

2:pm and 4:00pm ONLY

there will be no 6:00 pm show,

WE ARE SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE

and please email the planetarium director FIRST if you wish to attend because of

the seating capacity is limited

j.walker_gaa@gemsedu.com

ASTRONOMY DAY

2015-04-15T10:53:00.001+04:00

By history Astronomy day started in 1973 by Dough Berger, the president of Astronomical Association of Northern California, his intent was to set up various telescope in busy urban locations so that passersby can enjoy viewing the sky. since then the events has expanded and celebrated by numerous number of organizations associated with astronomy.

Astronomy day originally occurred on Saturdays between Mid-April and Mid-May, and was scheduled closest to the first quarter moon. In 2007, an Autumn celebration of Astronomy Day was added and was scheduled on Saturdays between Mid-September and Mid-October.

This year, the Astronomy Day Celebration falls on April 25 and September 19.

Abu Dhabi Astronomy will join the international astronomy community in celebration to this heavenly event. In cooperation with GEMS American Academy, Abu Dhabi which also celebrating the 25th Year Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope.

GEMS American Academy will invite you to visit their planetarium shows on

Monday, April 20 at 6:00pm

Tuesday April 21 at 6:00pm

Sunday April 26 at 6:00 pm

Monday April 27 at 6:00 pm

Tuesday April 28 at 6:00 pm

Saturday May 2 at 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm

On Saturday April 25, Abu Dhabi Astronomy and GEMS American Academy created an Special planetarium shows, ISS tracking show and sky viewing afterwards.

Bring your Telescope!!!

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY MEETUP REGISTER NOW

2015-02-21T18:45:00.002+04:00

Space Capsule the New Social Network

2015-02-03T16:00:00.002+04:00

The First Social Network in Space aboard a new satellite'

Take a moment to check it out the project and also share it with others and feel free to share it with your family and friends. All the tools are there. Get rewards, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make 'SpaceCapsule1' happen. (Besides, you can track where SpaceCapsule1 is all the time through your smartphone or Pc, take your own Earth's photographs or videos from space, tweet from space, send messages to outer space, like Mars or get your personal time capsule with your favorite digital content -photos, documents, videos or songs- travelling across the space and track it or host your web site in the first server in space) check with the link below.

http://www.indiegogo.com/spacecapsule1

FEBRUARY MEET UP

2015-02-03T15:55:00.002+04:00

GREETINGS FROM ABU DHABI ASTRONOMY

2014-12-31T15:40:00.001+04:00

GEMINIDS METEOR SHOWER WITH DUBAI ASTRONOMY GROUP

2014-12-08T16:37:00.001+04:00

One Nation One Sky let us meet and look on the sky.

Dubai Astronomy Group inviting the public to count the lights from the sky as the Geminids Meteor Shower will rise.

If interested please coordinate with

Dubai Astronomy Group

dubaiastronomy.com

+971 4 441 0775

LEONIDS METEOR SHOWER NOVEMBER 17-18, 2014

2014-11-17T14:51:00.001+04:00

METEOR SHOWER LEONIDS

The Leonids is an average shower, producing an avarage of up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tampel-Turttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of 17th and morning of 18th. The waning crescent moon will not be much of a problem this year. Skies should be dark enough for a good show. Best viewing will be from dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky

STARGAZING NIGHT with NEBULAE AND GALAXIES

2014-10-19T01:11:00.003+04:00

It was an awesome experience going out in the desert once again after a months of very hot summer. Abu Dhabi Astronomy went the Southern part of Abu Dhabi near Al Khazna Palace to travel with time after chasing for Nebulae and Galaxies.

sand dunes and windy weather

set-up time

Photo Credit: David Attie

M27 (Dumbbell Nebula): Telescope Celestron C11, 10 shoots, 30s, 1600 ISO, CANON EOS 450D modified ("Astrodon Inside"), F/D=10

wit

M57 (Ring Nebula): Telescope Celestron C11, 9 shoots, 30s, 1600 ISO, CANON EOS 450D modified ("Astrodon Inside"), F/D=10

M33 (Triangulum Galaxy): Telescope Celestron C11, 14 shoots, 60s, 1600 ISO, CANON EOS 450D modified ("Astrodon Inside"), F/D=6.

These pictures are the proof that we can travel with time if only we can move faster than speed of light. Photos are from hundreds of light years away which only means that we took the picture of these nebula and galaxy hundred of light years away.

photos Credit to Nikil Kuruvilla

The Dumbell Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula

The Open Cluster Nebula

UAE'S PLAN FOR MARS RACE MISSION

2014-09-14T07:40:00.003+04:00

“We aim for the UAE to be among the top countries in aerospace by 2021,” Sheikh Khalifa has said. “We have a great belief in the talents of our young people and the strongest determination, the greatest ambitions and a clear plan to reach our targets.”

Abu Dhabi's Ruler and President of United Arab Emirates - His Highness Sheikh Khalifa stated about the vision of having UAE as one of the top countries for aerospace race.

He formally signed a law establishing the UAE Space Agency. The announcement was made in July 2014.

The United Arab Emirates joined the ranks of the United States, Japan, China and India in working on projects and missions to the red planet as it announced the creation of its own space agency and intention to send an unmanned mission to the red planet by 2021.

The law, which was published in the Official Gazette, stated that the agency would have its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and have a branch in Dubai.

The initial meeting of the UAE Space Agency was held in July and was led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, who directed all government institutions to provide maximum support.

The unmanned probe prject will travel in nine months and will be launched to coincide with the UAE’s 50th anniversary.

ASTEROID APOPHIS

2014-08-03T16:10:00.004+04:00

photo and content credit to space.com

After its discovery in 2004, astronomers gave the asteroid Apophis a 2.4 percent chance of hitting the earth during its close flyby on April 13, 2029. If the 1,066-foot (325 meters) asteroid were to strike our planet, the blast could equal hundreds of megatons.

Fortunately, further analysis showed that Apophis will miss the Earth by 19,400 miles (31,300 kilometers) in 2029. Extrapolating further into the future, another approach in 2036 is an even bigger miss. Apophis has only a one in a million chance of hitting Earth on that pass.

An asteroid that approaches Earth closely is called a Near Earth Object, or NEO. Astronomers track these objects carefully to provide early warning if one is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth.

PLANETARIUM AT THE GALLERIA THIS RAMADAN

2014-07-19T19:53:00.001+04:00

Enjoy the Iftar or after the Iftar at the Galleria in Al Maryah Island this whole month of Ramadan> One mobile planetarium was set up and open after dark, every Wednesday to Saturday. Mr. Nezar Sallam, on of UAE's astronomer spearheaded this night activity. Mr. Sallam also hosting educational workshops on Thursdays and Fridays at 9:30-10:30 pm, where everyone can learn about the moon, Saturn, Mars and satellites in the space.

All ages are welcome, children can also enjoy fun games and activities available inside the Galleria, it is located on level 1 next to Bentley Bistro restaurant.

CAMELOPARDALIDS NIGHT

2014-06-01T17:22:00.001+04:00

The new meteor shower said as an astronomical experienced of a life-time. This meteor shower witnessed on it’s peak last May 23 night until May 24 before sunrise, the meteor shower called Camelopardalids for it originates in the Giraffe Constellation.

The debris trail originate from Comet 209P/Linear, which discovered in 2004, the originator of this meteor shower and the Earth will cross the comet path on the morning of May 24. Based on astronomical prediction, this new meteor shower could be an astronomical experience of a life-time and produce a unique meteor storm which would see dense outbursts of bright multiple meteors and provide estimated closely to thousand shooting stars an hour during the peak shower moment. The lowest expectation would be 60 to 100 meteors an hour throughout the night.

Abu Dhabi Astronomy group once again organized a desert camping near Endurance Village in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

With the help of Abu Dhabi Week magazine people responded to this historical sky event.

To the disappointments of the people joined the group as the expectations did not happened, seen a maximum of 10 meteors the whole night that supposed to me 60-100's, they are remain coming back for the next stargazing event. They enjoyed looking at Saturn, Jupiter and other sky objects instead and having fun with the desert camping experienced.

Photos credit to Ajmal P.M

Cars waited in Endurance Village parking area waited for the cue....

The journey begins

Towards the road of history...

Ajmal and Andy

Tents are set up....

Telescope ready

Tents set-up, waited for the time, but for the mean time enjoying the sunset

Ajmal's portait with the milky way galaxy

APRIL 2014 - TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE AS SEEN IN PRESCOTT OBSERVATORY, ARIZONA, USA

2014-04-15T16:07:00.000+04:00

April 15, 2014

Total Lunar Eclipse was observed and witness by others from the other side of the world. Astronomers from the side of the Gulf region was not able to saw this sky event with their own eyes but with the help of technology, we from Abu Dhabi Astronomy still witnessed the Total Lunar Eclipse. With the online service of Slooh, viewing live from Prescott Observatory in Arizona, USA was possible to seen all over the world including Abu Dhabi.
Photos above are captured from the live broadcast of Slooh.

INVITATION>>>>

2014-04-09T10:36:00.001+04:00

FOX INTERNATIONAL CHANNELS ANNOUNCES TWO SPECTACULAR SPACE EVENTS THIS MARCH: LIVE FROM SPACE AND COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY

2014-03-12T11:57:00.002+04:00

COSMOS : A SPACETIME ODYSSEYpremiers March 15 at 6pm UAE on Nat Geo HD

LIVE FROM SPACE broadcasts live on March 15 at4am UAE, repeated same day at 4pm UAE on Nat Geo HD

FOX International Channels Middle East (FICME) has a month of space exploration lined up for viewers, with two phenomenal programmes that go above and beyond our planet’s stratosphere. Get a taste of what it’s like to live on the International Space Station in the Live from Space live broadcast on March 15, and embark upon a cosmic journey of discovery with the 13-episode series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, premiering on March 15 on the Pay TV Channel – Nat Geo HD

Live from Space

A broadcast like never before, Live from Space is a live, 2 hour show beamed down to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Tune in to watch two ISS-based astronauts, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata, take you on a tour of the $100 billion dollar space station, 250 miles above the Earth’s surface travelling 4.9 miles per second. Join them as they conduct never-before-broadcast experiments, while demonstrating what it’s like to live in space – all while completing a full orbit of our planet.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

The 13-part series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey follows the iconic ‘Cosmos: A Personal Voyage’, which first aired more than three decades ago. A spectacular series from Ann Druyan and Seth McFarlane (‘Family Guy’, ‘Ted’), hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey invents new modes of scientific storytelling, taking viewers on a heroic quest for knowledge across the galaxy. Each episode presents the most profound scientific concepts in stunning clarity, uniting scepticism and wonder for a truly transcendent experience.

COSMOS : A SPACETIME ODYSSEYpremiers March 15 at 6pm UAE on Nat Geo HD

LIVE FROM SPACE broadcasts live on March 15 at 4am UAE, repeated same day at 4pm UAE on Nat Geo HD