Get your cameras ready! Qatar’s skies will be decorated with the last celestial event of the year – the Ursid meteor shower – on December 22. Experts say the showers can be seen with the naked eye without using any astronomy devices or telescopes.
The annual event happens between December 17 to December 26 of each year but is expected to peak on December 22 with a bright moon in the background, according to Earth Sky.
The shower can be seen up until Thursday at dawn, the Qatari Calendar House has announced.
The grand Ursids meteor shower (Al-Dibiyat) will have five to 10 meteors visible per hour, according to NASA, and can be seen in Qatar with the naked eye without any astronomy devices or telescopes.
For the best views, astronomy lovers can witness the shower at a location far from environmental and light pollution by observing the northern horizon of the Gulf nation, Qatar Calendar House Astronomer Dr. Bashir Marzouk stated.
The expert explained that the phenomenon is called Al-Dibiyat because the stones appear to the observer from the surface of the earth as “falling near the constellation of the Minor Dipper to the north.”
For keen photographers, you may want to get your cameras out. The meteor showers can be clearly captured by modern cameras, taking into account the increase in exposure time during shooting to obtain distinctive images.
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