2000QL7
2000QL7 is an Amor-class near-Earth asteroid which was discovered independently by the LINEAR survey in August 2000 but it was first observed on July 21, 1977, at Siding Spring Observatory. Its orbit approaches Earth’s orbit but does not cross it which makes it unlikely to make any imminent collision with Earth in the future […]
547 Praxedis
547 Praxedis is a Postrema-type asteroid that was discovered by Paul Gotz at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory in southwest Germany on October 14, 1904. It was named after the character “Praxedis” from Joseph Victor von Scheffel’s historical romance Ekkehard (1857). With further survey carried out by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), its diameter was […]
495 Eulalia
Asteroid 495 Eulalia is a minor-planet discovered by Max Wolf from Heidelberg Observatory on October 25, 1902. It was named after the discoverer’s wife’s grandmother. It has a mean radius of 19.425±0.7 km and a rotation period of 28.967 Earth hours. Based on a study using the data from NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) […]
Epsilon Aurigae
We got an interesting gem in the Auriga constellation— Epsilon Aurigae, an unusual eclipsing binary star that remained a mystery to scientists and experts in the field of #astronomy for over two centuries! Why? Well, Epsilon Aurigae happens to dim for a two-year period every 27 years. According to Space.com, scientists surmised that it could probably be an #eclipse caused by “a cloud of meteors, […]
Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse is a bright red supergiant in the Orion constellation located between 400-650 light-years away. With an average apparent magnitude of +0.4, it is previously the 9th brightest star in the night sky. Astronomers projected Betelgeuse to explode someday as a type II supernova, a phenomenon in which highly massive stars can no longer fuse […]
C/2017 T2 PanSTARRS
We caught sight of C/2017 T2 (PANSTARRS) last January 17, 2020! The comet was discovered on October 2, 2017, by the PanSTARSS survey when it was just inside Saturn’s orbit, about 8.5 AU away from the Sun; measured approximately between 19th – 20th magnitude. The comet passed near the Double Cluster of Perseus last January, brightened up to 10th magnitude […]
Comet C/2018 N2 (ASASSN)
Comet C/2018 N2 (ASASSN) (center) taken from Al Sadeem Observatory last September 10, 2019, using GSO RC8 telescope and ZWO1600MC camera. Comet’s apparent magnitude is at +12.82 at the date and time of capture. The comet was discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASASSN) program from images taken on July 7-11, 2018 with the 14-cm “Cassius” […]
C/2018 W2 Africano
Here’s C/2018 W2 Africano imaged using SBIG STT-8300MM CCD with Johnson V filter, Meade LX850 16 inch SCT last September 11, 2019. Its apparent magnitude was measured at +11.6 at the date and time of capture. C/2018 W2 (Africano) was first observed and discovered by B.M. Africano with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-metre reflector on November 27, 2018. […]
ASASSN-18ey (aka MAXIJ1820+070)
You’re looking at one of our major research collaborations with the @nyuabudhabi . This is ASASSN-18ey (aka MAXIJ1820+070), a low-mass X-ray binary black hole transient about 10x the Sun’s mass. It is situated about 3kpc (parallax distance), or 9.8 light years, away from Earth in the Ophiuchus constellation. This research project is led by Asst. Prof. David […]
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) aka “Comet ATLAS” as seen from the UAE’s first private observatory
Seeing a comet with one’s own eyes is a phenomenal experience no one would want to miss in their lifetimes. So when the C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) was discovered on December 28, 2019, astronomy experts and enthusiasts turned their heads to the cosmic spectacle and kept an eye on it since. Apparently, the comet—discovered from the […]
