Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Summertime is prime time for skywatching in the UAE. Astronomy experts have mapped out a season's worth of celestial highlights, a lineup that kicks off tonight and runs all the way through August.
Not every cosmic event is created equal, though, at least when it comes to public viewing. "From our experience, the best events are the ones people can actually see with their own eyes — not only read about online," said Mohamed Usama Ismail, Lead Optical Astronomy and Tours at Al Sadeem Astronomy in Abu Dhabi.
The season's first highlight requires no telescope. Just after sunset today, June 16, look toward the western horizon: a crescent Moon will appear to drift close to Mercury, creating what Ismail described as an ideal astronomy experience that can be observed until June 18.
“[Those who see it will] immediately understand that the planets are not fixed lights — but moving worlds in orbit around the Sun,” he said.
The Perseids: Summer's Main Event
The star of the starry shows this summer, however, is the Perseids meteor shower, which is expected to peak on the night of August 12–13.
Under clear, dark skies, the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology (SAASST) expects between 80 and 100 meteors streaking across the sky every hour, with activity running highest between 11pm and 4am.
Better still, this year's display arrives under near-perfect conditions. The peak coincides with a new Moon, meaning the sky stays darker than usual — a combination that, according to SAASST, improves how many meteors observers are likely to spot.
No binoculars, no telescope, just some patience is required. Ismail calls the Perseids the most accessible, and most unmissable, event of the summer. "A meteor shower gives people patience, silence, surprise, and a direct connection with the sky," he said.
Skywatchers might also catch the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower in late July, but Ismail noted that its peak overlaps with a brighter Moon, which could wash out fainter meteors.
Chasing the Milky Way
From late June through August, the UAE's night sky offers another reward: a view of the Milky Way's glowing core. Ismail describes watching it unfold from the desert as a transformative experience, one that helps put humanity's place in the galaxy into perspective.
Public sessions built around Milky Way observation, experts said, are a natural gateway into bigger ideas: how stars form, how galaxies are structured, and where our own solar system fits within it all.
“You do not need to travel to another country to see it,” Ismail said. “In many cases, moving around 40 km or more away from strong city lights can already make a major difference.”
Suhail's Return
By late August, attention is bound to shift to a single star: Suhail, also known as Canopus. Its appearance just before dawn around August 24 marks the start of the traditional Al Duroor calendar. It also serves as the first sign that the season's peak heat is beginning to ease.
Ismail said Suhail's rise is more than an astronomical milestone. "It is a reminder that people in this region used the sky as a calendar, a guide, and a way to read the changing seasons long before modern apps and satellites," he explained.
Its appearance ultimately connects astronomy with local heritage. “Our ancestors here watched the stars to understand time, seasons, heat, travel, farming, fishing, and life itself,” Ismail said, pointing to a tradition that the summer's sky, once again, invites everyone to take part in.
A Message from the Cosmos
Behind the sight of shooting stars and dazzling planets lies a message, Ismail said: “The sky is not random.” And every event tells part of a larger story about motion, distance, and time.
"The planets show orbital motion. Meteor showers show that Earth is moving through space and crossing old trails of comet dust," he said. "Venus and Jupiter remind us that the planets are moving worlds. The Perseids remind us that Earth is travelling through space. The Milky Way reminds us that we live inside a galaxy."
For SAASST, this connection matters most for younger audiences. Watching these events firsthand turns abstract scientific concepts into a lived experience, rather than something read about in a textbook.
