The UAE has something spectacular in store to kick off the new year. Stargazers are in for a treat as the year’s first Quadrantid meteor shower will be visible in the UAE skies on 3 and 4 January. The shower is expected to peak late night on 3 January and will last until dawn on 4 January. Make a note of the date and time!
What’s It?
The year’s first meteor shower will be visible in the UAE skies on 3 and 4 January. The first Quadrantid shower is expected to start late night on 3 and last until dawn on 4 January 2020.
“The brightest meteor shower during January is the brightest, and we will see about 40 meteors per hour. The best time to see it is before dawn, starting at 2 after midnight on the northeastern side,” said Ebrahim Al Jarwan, Member of the Arab Union for Space and Astronomy.
According to the International Meteor Organisation the shower is expected to peak at 8:00 am on Saturday and will last a couple of hours. The shower is caused when debris from space interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving behind streaks of light.
It is also predicted that the best time to see the shower is before dawn, starting at 2 AM after midnight on the northeast side. In fact, the Dubai Astronomy Group is also hosting a meteor sighting event at the Al Qudra lake between 10:00 pm- 3:00 am.
What Else
Thought going to Mars was far fetched? Wait until UAE sets up the first Mars City on the planet. Yes you read it right! The United Arab Emirates’ Mars 2117 project aims at setting up a mini city on the red planet by 2117. The announcement was made earlier at the World Government Summit in the presence of representatives of 138 governments. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum spoke at length about the project and said that the project will explore creating food and energy on the planet.
As part of the project UAE will soon have a “Mars Scientific City”, a project worth AED 500 million. The city is said to be built near Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre in Al Khawaneej. Covering an area of 1.9 million square feet, the city is expected to be the largest space simulation city to be built. It will also have advanced laboratories for studying food, energy and water security on Mars that will also benefit Earth. A team of scientists and astronauts are to live in the simulated environment for one year, to better understand life on the planet. World renowned architect Bjarke Ingels is the brain behind the project.
First Published: January 02, 2020 9:29 AM
×
Join The #CTSquad!
Sign up for our daily email and get the best delivered straight to your inbox. We pinky promise to make it awesome!
