Category Archives: Astronomy

2016: Editor’s choice

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Extracts from selected news and feature articles published this year.

Astrophysics

An international team of scientists, including from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), managed to directly observe structural components of one slowly rotating star, thanks to asteroseismology. This new technique, 10,000 times more precise than its predecessor, reveals a star’s flatter, rounder contours and different rotational speeds. It allows scientists to ‘see’ the nature of the stellar interior with very high precision.

Marine science

In an unprecedented study on non-model organisms in captivity, scientists from Saudi Arabia, Australia and Norway were able to create large sequence datasets on how reef fish and their offspring react to the phenomenon of decreasing pH levels, called ocean acidification, brought on by climate change. Acidification happens due the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide. “The amount of sequencing data we generated is unparalleled for a non-model organism,” says Timothy Ravasi, the senior author of the paper. Scientists discovered that the offspring of some reef fish can tolerate acidification by adjusting their circadian rhythm to night time function throughout the day.

Ecology and evolution

An international consortium of researchers analysed the coding portions of genes, or “exomes”, belonging to 1,794 nationals of Greater Middle Eastern (GME) countries, a region spanning from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east. “As expected for a region so rich in history and at the crossroads of many civilizations, the Middle East ‘variome’ [the set of genetic variations in a given population] suggests mixing with other populations, although the percentage varies greatly depending on which subpopulation you look at,” says geneticist Fowzan Alkuraya from Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center. Northwest African genes were found in people across northern Africa, most likely representing the Berber genetic background. Arabian Peninsular genes were observed in nearly all GME peoples studied, possibly the result of the Arab conquests of the seventh century. Similarly, Persian expansion in the fifth century into the Turkish peninsula, the Syrian Desert region and parts of northeast Africa probably accounts for the Persian and Pakistan genetic signal present in the peoples of those regions. The peoples of the Syrian Desert and Turkish peninsular regions show the highest levels of mixing with European populations.

Geology

Shallow, dense magma reservoirs may be responsible for the most hazardous type of volcano on Earth, according to a new study. Ivan Koulakov and colleagues, including scientists from Saudi Arabia, present a fresh seismic model, based on studying magma paths beneath the Toba volcano in Indonesia, which last erupted some 74,000 years ago. The model explains why the magma system under Toba causes large, devastating eruptions, and how such large volumes of magma are generated.

Archaeology

“We always say it can’t get any worse, and then it does — and that’s the hardest part,” says Allison Cuneo, project manager for the American Schools of Oriental Research’s Cultural Heritage Initiative (CHI), which documents the loss of Syrian heritage. CHI reported 851 incidents of damage to cultural heritage between September 2015 and August 2016, mostly concentrated in areas of northern Syria controlled by forces opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. With such extensive damage, there “is so much data on destruction to report, it’s like holding the ocean back with a broom,” says Michael Danti, the academic director of CHI.

Environment

A world atlas of artificial night sky brightness, published earlier this year in Science Advances, captured the extent to which we are smothered in light. It reveals Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as the most light-polluted places to live on the planet, topped only by Singapore. More than half of people living in Israel and Libya live through extremely bright nights, and the widest connected twilight zone in the world is along the Nile Delta in Egypt. No more can people in Kuwait and Qatar see the glowing band of the Milky Way from their homes. For more than 97 per cent of people in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Egypt, this is also true. “The night sky is the beginning of our civilization. It leads to all religions, philosophy, science, literature and the arts. The cultural significance of a sky full of stars is huge. The new generations have lost this source of inspiration,” says Fabio Falchi, of the Italian Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute’s Fabio Falchi, who led the study.

Astronomy

The Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES) has discovered three new “exoplanets” outside our solar system. The planets, named Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b and Qatar-5b, are hot Jupiters: they are similar in size to Jupiter (11 times the size of Earth) and orbit very closely to their respective suns. They are located some 1400 to 1800 light years away from Earth and can be seen in the same part of the sky as the Andromeda Constellation, best observed in autumn in the northern hemisphere.

UAE unveils its Mars exploration amibitions

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{credit}PHOTODISC{/credit}

The United Arab Emirates yesterday announced its plan to create the country’s space agency and to send its first unmanned exploration probe to Mars by 2021. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president of UAE and monarch of Dubai, said that the country has already raised 20 billion dirham (~US$5.44 billion) for the agency, which will be responsible for all of space exploration activities in the country as well as developing the technologies needed.

“The more than 60 million kilometres journey to Mars will mark UAE out as one of few countries with space programmes to explore the Red Planet,” said Al Maktoum in a released statement.

If the UAE can pull this off, it would be an impressive feat, and a very ambitious endeavour in general. “They will succeed, because they will make sure they get the right people and the right collaborations,” comments Nidhal Guessoum, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Sharjah, UAE.

Is it realistic to make the trip in just seven years from now? Maybe not. It is very hard to land a mission on Mars, even for veteran space nations like Russia. The United States is the only country so far that has landed a rover on the surface of our closest planet. But that is really besides the point. Whether they get to Mars by 2021 or not may not be that important. In fact, it’s the journey to that ambitious aim that is particularly interesting, and how the UAE will work for it.

This is a true chance for the UAE to change its international image. Everyone knows Dubai as a luxurious shopping city with the largest skyscrapers and the biggest malls. But this is a chance for the country to change its international image and become known as a science-producing country. “What I’m excited about is that this is the kind of great project that will now entice young people and will be associated with the UAE,” adds Guessoum.

It is also a chance to create a true sense of excitement about science in the rich Gulf state. Arabs have a rich history of astronomy that they are particularly proud of, but that was lost over the years. This is a chance to rekindle that. It can inspire young people to be interested in space and science again and can drive research and high-tech industry, much like NASA’s mission to the moon did for the US in the 1960’s.

While the UAE is rich enough to be able to import much of the expertise and technologies it needs, this is also a chance for the country to use this target to drive local research. It can promote education, international collaborations and attract world-class expertise who would be interested in working as part of this target.

“Our region is a cradle of great civilizations. Given the right tools, Arabs, once again, can deliver new scientific contributions to humanity,” said Al Maktoum in his statement. That vision is the most important part of the country’s announcement, and it’s more important than whether they would actually be able to land a research probe on Mars in 2021. And if they do, then that will be the next phase of the research boost that the project can offer the UAE and the region in general.

Arab world gets chance to name an asteroid

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Maryam AljoaanA young Kuwait scientist has launched a campaign in the Middle East to give people a chance to name an asteroid, hoping it would reignite Arab’s passion with science and space.

Maryam Aljoaan is not your average run-of-the-mill young scientist. The young Kuwaiti has been fascinated with exploring the Earth – and space – since she was very young. In February 2011, she became the first Kuwaiti female to set foot on Antarctica as part of a Canadian science expedition.

Since then, her fascination with Earth continued to grow, leading her to Jacobs University Bremen in Germany where she received her bachelor’s degree in oceanography. Now, the young scientist has set up an NGO to channel her fascination with science to others in the Arab world.

Her first project to do so is by partnering with the International Astronomical Union through a large regional campaign that offers everyone in the Arab world the chance to name an asteroid.

Following the launch of the campaign, I caught up with Maryam for a quick interview.

Can you give me more details about your campaign?

The asteroid naming campaign is aimed at the general public of all ages and backgrounds in the Arab world. We offer this first of a kind opportunity in partnership with the Minor Planet Center, the nerve center of asteroid detection in the solar system. Participants are invited to submit their naming suggestions on our website www.lazurd.org by 31st March, 2014.

I understand you want to raise awareness in the Arab world about the planet and asteroids through the campaign, but how do you think naming an asteroid can help do that? 

We hope that this campaign will spark some people’s interest to learn more about asteroids. However naming an asteroid gives the general public the opportunity to be part of the scientific world, and maybe to break their limiting beliefs that they cannot contribute to science.

Is the naming campaign for a certain asteroid as agreed with the International Astronomical Union?

Yes, there is a certain asteroid to be named. We will announce which asteroid once the name has been approved by the Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union.

Tell me more about the NGO Azurd that you set up in Belgium.

Lazurd is the Arabic word for azure – a hue of blue. Azure represents Earth as seen from space, which is our focus at Lazurd. We aim to provide educational opportunities for the Arab youth to explore and deepen their understanding of Earth beyond textbooks. Our vision is to create the next generation of Arabs who learn about our place in space and identify themselves as caretakers of Earth.

What exactly are you doing through it?

Our motto is to explore, understand, and protect Earth. We provide access for Arab youth to a range of scientific experiences and opportunities through our global partners. These first-hand experiences could be snorkeling with a marine biologist, testing experiments in a weightless environment, going on an expedition to the Arctic or presenting ideas to the scientific community. Since we don’t have financial partners yet, we started the asteroid naming campaign as our first project.

And is there a reason why you did not launch it in Kuwait?

I am mostly based in Belgium; therefore it was more convenient to found the organization here. Also it is easier to make contacts in the scientific community and to create and maintain links between organizations worldwide.

Can you tell me more about yourself and your interest in science?

I am a Kuwaiti social entrepreneur. I founded Lazurd in Belgium and am currently the executive director. I am an oceanographer by training, and received my bachelor’s degree in Earth and Space Sciences with specialization in Oceanography from Jacobs University Bremen in Germany. In addition, I have several field experiences on land and sea including the North Sea, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Southern Ocean.

As far as I can remember I have always been interested in science since I was a little girl. Later in high school I majored in mathematics, and enjoyed studying natural sciences.

Astronomy to inspire young Emiratis

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Moon Mohammed Yahia

{credit}Mohammed Yahia{/credit}

Hasan El-Hariri has been fascinated by space for all his life. He bought his first telescope when he was 16 and, after using it to look at the moon, he was hooked on astronomy. This love drove him to start the Dubai Astronomy Group in 1993 and, since then, it has grown from a handful of people to some 3,000 members. Now, El-Hariri dreams of inspiring young children to look at the sky and find that same fascination that drove his whole life.

Catch my short interview with El-Hariri below, where he talks about his work and the Dubai Astronomy Group, and his hopes for the future of the group. Below that you can watch an interesting short documentary about El-Hariri and his work.

 

1) Why did you decide to start the Dubai Astronomy Group (DAG) and when did it start?

Astronomy is a collaborative science. You cannot work alone. To increase our knowledge we have to cooperate and unify ourselves into an organized entity. We also found that there is no organization available in the United Arab Emirates or other Arab countries that is serving astronomy in any way which satisfies our needs.

Not to mention that most of the astronomy organizations around the world are local oriented and do not often support each other in a progressive manner.

2) How successful have you been so far in inspiring young children to look at the stars and be interested in astronomy?

We have many activities, over 30 every year, most of which address schools and the education sector. We are seeing so many children joining DAG with their families, and most of our general activities are family-oriented. We have also started an astronomy club in schools initiative in 2006. We now have many schools working closely with us as partners.

We are active partners of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) [the educational quality assurance and regulatory authority of Dubai], and provide many products to schools, such as stargazing events, lectures and galleries.

We are planning to open an Astronomy Kids Clubs soon, which will provide more focused products and services for children.

3) Do you have any plans of spreading DAG across the UAE and maybe, in the future, link up with other groups in other Arab countries to have a regional Arab Astronomy Group?

DAG is named after Dubai due to our struggling start, but we are definitely not restricted to Dubai. We are available everywhere in UAE, not to mention we have many friends and partners around the world and in Arab countries.

We are now starting to work on an International Astronomy Group, where we will link up networks of astronomy clubs and group around the world, and we are inviting everyone to join us in this effort. We believe that, together, we can do miracles.

4) The DAG members have increased from four to 3,000 over the past 20 years. What do you plan to do next?

Our target is to have one million members by 2015. It is a very big number but it’s only a start. We have an aggressive marketing plan, which will support our international vision very strongly. We hope to become a world leading astronomy organization, which can support amateur astronomers and fulfill their dreams.