An Arab astronomer discovers 12 new meteor showers

picture

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved twelve new meteor showers that were discovered by the Director of the International Astronomical Center in Abu Dhabi and member of the International Meteor Organization, astronomer Muhammad Shawkat Odeh, and they were officially added to the official website of the Union.

The discovery came after analyzing the results of the Emirates Network for Observing Meteors and Meteors of the International Astronomy Center. This network consists of three stations distributed in the Abu Dhabi desert, and daily and automatically photograph the meteors that appear in the sky of the Emirates.

Odeh analyzed the results of these observations over the period from the network's operation in 2017 to the end of 2021, which included 76,765 meteors, and determined the orbit of each of them around the sun and its orbital elements.

After that, a computer program was prepared to analyze these meteors and compare them with the known meteor showers using a method called "distance criteria". As a result, meteor groups were identified that do not follow any known meteor shower.

- The first meteor shower is called the January lambda-Geminids (JLG), and it is located in the group of twins, and 20 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of January.

- The second meteor shower is called the mu-Arietids (MAR), and it is located in the Aries group, and 38 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of October.

- The third meteor shower is called 64-Cetids (SCD), and it is located in the Cetus group, and 18 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of October. 

- The fourth meteor shower is called rho-Taurids (RTU), and it is located in the Taurus group, and 80 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of November. 

- The fifth meteor shower is called alpha-Fornacids (AFO), and it is located in the Al-Kur group, and 7 meteors belonging to it were observed and are active in the month of January.

- The sixth meteor shower is called upsilon-librids (ULI), and it is located in the Libra group, and 12 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of May. 

- The seventh meteor shower is called mu-Sagittariids (MSA), and it is located in the Sagittarius group, and 12 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of June. 

The eighth meteor shower is called the mu-Cetids (MCD), and it is located in the Cetus group, and 25 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of November.

The ninth meteor shower is called May delta-Librids (LDM), and it is located in the Libra group, and 27 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of May.

- The tenth meteor shower is called chi-Aurigids (CUA), and it is located in the Auriga group, and 38 meteors were observed following it and it is active in the month of January.

The eleventh meteor shower is called 51-Leonids (FLN), and it is located in the Lion group, and 29 meteors belonging to it were observed and are active in the month of March.

- The twelfth meteor shower is called 53-Draconids (FDR), and it is located in the Dragon group, and 19 meteors belonging to it were observed and are active in the month of August. 

It is noteworthy that the Emirates Network to Observe Meteors and Meteors is part of an international program sponsored by the US Space Agency "NASA", in which seven other networks in the United States and one each in Europe, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey are participating.

And the Emirates network is the only one from the Arab world.

Since its establishment, it has contributed to many discoveries announced by the International Astronomical Union, and has participated in many researches published in scientific journals.

The network enjoys continuous support from the UAE, which keeps it at a high level of accuracy and sobriety.

It should be noted that the management and maintenance of the Emirates Network stations is carried out by a number of engineers who are members of the International Astronomy Center, namely: Anas Mohammed, Osama Ghannam, Sameh Al-Ashi, Ali Nasser, Ibrahim Ghunaimat and Rami Al-Khatib.

It is noteworthy that "Awdah" is also a member of the Jordanian Astronomical Society and a founding member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences.

The attached photos are of the Emirates Network for Meteor Monitoring, meteors and some of the meteors that it photographed.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news