See the famous Leonid meteor shower in the UAE skies this month

Stargazers take note. The famous Leonid meteor shower is set to return this month in November and if you want to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, join the Dubai Astronomy Group.

On Friday, November 17, the astronomy group will be hosting an observation night at Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah where you can view the Leonid meteor shower under the guidance of professionals.

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You will need to book your spots to attend here. General tickets cost Dhs250 per adult, and for little ones under the age of 13, it’s Dhs200.

The event starts at 10pm. Why so late, you may ask? Well, the meteor shower is best seen when it is really dark.

While the star of the night (get it?), will be the Leonid meteor shower, attendees will be rewarded with much more.

The night begins with a Saturn observation, followed by an introduction and talk on the Orionids Meteor Shower. Following this, there is an Arabian Astronomy session and a sky mapping session (stories about constellations). Any burning questions can be asked at the Q&A session following which you will be able to make a telescope observation of Jupiter, Saturn and other deep sky objects.

You will even be allowed to snap a shot of the celestial objects with your phone through the telescope.

Do note, that your night officially ends at 3pm, so make sure you’re well rested before you drive over to attend, or fuel up on (a lot of) coffee.

The shower is called Leonids because the point in the sky where the meteors seem to emerge from lies in the constellation Leo.

According to earthsky.com, if the sky is really dark, you might be able to see 10 to 15 Leonid meteors per hour. One time around the year 1966, the meteor rate was as high as thousands per minute, and in the words of earthsky.com, that night, it fell like rain.

Happy stargazing!

Images: Getty Images 

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