The Emirates Network for Observing Meteors and Meteors affiliated with the International Astronomy Center was able to photograph dozens of meteors that appeared in the UAE sky on the evening of Friday, August 11, 2023, one or two nights before the peak of the “Pershawiyat” meteor shower.
The images show some constellations and formations, such as Taurus and the Pleiades. The network consists of three stations in the Abu Dhabi desert, and 16 video cameras that automatically photograph meteors as soon as they appear.
The International Astronomy Center intends, God willing, to carry out a live broadcast of the Perseids meteors through special cameras located in the Al-Khatim Astronomical Observatory, and the live broadcast can be watched in the event of clear skies by following the center’s accounts on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Astronomical forecasts indicate that the traditional peak of the Perseids meteor shower will occur on Sunday, August 13, between 02:00 am and 09:00 pm GMT, and this date makes both nights; Saturday evening, August 12th, and Sunday evening, August 13th, are two occasions to see these meteors, with preference for Sunday evening for the western regions of the Arab world, and Saturday evening for its east.
Forecasts also indicate that the earth will pass on Monday, August 14, 2023 AD between 01 and 02:45 am GMT (Sunday night on Monday) a dust belt that was launched from the comet in 68 BC, and it is not possible to predict the number of meteors that may result from this. Crossing, however, scholars stress that it is worth following up on that night, which is a very appropriate date for the Arab region.
Usually, the peak time sees between 50 to 75 meteors per hour if the monitoring is done from a dark and suitable place, but in the case of monitoring from bright places within cities or monitoring at a time far from the peak of the shower, the observer may not see more than a few meteors only in the best case.