Star gazing

(27/1/25)

I got to do something for the first time today - to look through a telescope! To colleagues had asked if we could drive into the desert to see the planetary alignment this weekend. I found that the Dubai Astronomy Group were doing a session in the desert on Saturday, but tickets sold out so quickly, they added another date.

I bought tickets right away. The evening was well organised with a talk explaining the phenomenon. Members of the group brought their telescopes so that we could look through them. There were loads of people there, so we only got a few seconds to see Venus and Saturn. There was no way I could have got photographs, so I was relieved when they said they would provide photographs taken by their photographer (my extra). I've organised my collage by the distance the planets are from the sun. Tonight's alignment involved Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

We didn't stay the entire duration as it was cold, and we both needed a restroom, which was a ten-minute drive away. We had to wait, though, for the inconsiderate driver who blocked us in. So we had our picnic dinner sitting in the car park of the Last Exit Al Qudra, nicely finishing it off with a Filli saffron tea.

So, the evening whet my appetite for star gazing. It would be interesting to check out a secondhand telescope. It is easier to be outdoors here with warmer evenings and less likelihood of cloud cover. The only problem is driving an hour out to escape light pollution from a very bright city.