AMATEUR ASTRONOMER WITH BLACK HOLES IN HIS SIGHTS
▶ Thabet Al Qaissieh built an observatory on his family farm. Now he’s working with NYUAD to solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. By John Dennehy
An Emirati amateur astronomer who built an observatory on his family’s farm is collaborating with New York University Abu Dhabi on research into black holes.
Images taken at Thabet Al Qaissieh’s Al Sadeem observatory in Al Wathba are helping to verify whether a new system discovered in March contains a black hole.
The “black hole candidate” is about the size of Abu Dhabi, one of the brightest discovered in years and is about 10,000 light years from Earth. Although that is close in astronomical terms, it is too far to affect us. But this research could help if one day a black hole turned up next door.
David Russell, an assistant professor of physics at the university, is leading the research team.
“When this system developed and became really bright, we thought let’s observe this with a telescope. I contacted Sadeem … and we started getting fantastic data,” Dr Russell said.
He said it was 90 per cent certain that the system was a black hole but more research was needed. Other telescopes around the world were also being used.
“It feels surreal,” Mr Al Qaissieh, 36, said of the joint effort with the university. “We are working with top-notch scientists to study objects beyond my wildest imagination. If all goes well, it could be something we contribute to space discovery.”
Black holes form when a massive star collapses on itself and then starts to suck in nearby stars. Scientists are unable to see black holes because nothing, not even light, can escape their gravitational pull.
But they can observe what is happening to nearby stars as they hit the black hole. It is believed that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed.
The new system, Maxi J1820, was first observed through an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station but Dr Russell’s team was the first to postulate that it could contain a black hole.
“The images from Al Sadeem allow us to study the hot gas plummeting into the black hole and also some matter that escapes in the form of jets that travel close to the speed of light,” Dr Russell said.
The decision to build the observatory was born of Mr Al Qaissieh’s passion for stargazing.
He grew up in Al Ain and can still recall the beauty of the night sky during trips to the desert with his father. He simply wanted to look at the Moon with a telescope, and a conversation with his late brother Mansour also proved decisive.
“He said, ‘listen, it’s simple. If it works then it’s something great for community. And if it doesn’t, you have a nice place to hang out’,” Mr Qaissieh said.
His brother died in 2015 and Al Sadeem opened a year later with the help of Alejandro Palado, a Filipino expatriate who founded the Abu Dhabi Astronomy Group.
The dome was imported from Poland and protects the Meade telescope. It also helps that there is little light pollution. A metal sculpture inspired by an astrolabe sits at the entrance in honour of Mansour.
Mr Al Qaisseh has a day job looking after the family business but Al Sadeem, which is Arabic for nebula, has hired a full-time astronomer, hosts students, holds outreach programmes and conducts research.
What started as a hobby has developed into an academic collaboration with one of the most respected universities in the world.
“I was pretty excited,” Dr Russell said of his first visit to Al Sadeem. “At NYUAD we have the biggest group of astronomers in the country but there were not many local facilities. When I found out there was this telescope I was very impressed by the set-up.”
When The National visited on a clear Tuesday night, Mr Al Qaissieh was able to easily pick out Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky. It is a skill that is being lost.
“Fifty or 60 years ago, many people who went from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain used the sky,” he said. “They didn’t use GPS or have a nice road with lights. Even today in the military, you are required to know basic star positions for guidance.”
The UAE Space Agency was established in 2014 and the Emirates Mars Mission aims to place a probe – Amal (Hope in English) – into orbit around the Red Planet by 2021.
The conditions to allow Emirati and Arab scientists to flourish are being created again, which is something Mr Al Qaissieh sees first hand through his outreach programme.
“There is this idea that Arabs or Muslims are anti-science,” Mr Al Qaissieh said. “But the number of young Arabs we see is super impressive. Especially the women. Us guys are way behind our female colleagues in this field.
“It’s also about changing the perception of the UAE and wider region that has been plagued by problems. It’s just wasted energy and that’s one of the most important messages the UAE sends out with the Mars probe.”
For now, 50 images a day are being sent by Al Sadeem on the system to the university and an academic paper is expected in coming months. Emirati students at the university are also helping with the project and gaining valuable experience.
“No one has studied how the optical variations of a black hole system like this one change during the whole outburst,” Dr Russell said. “Our studies are therefore unique and at the cutting edge of black hole research and will help advance our understanding of these kinds of objects.”
The images from Al Sadeem allow us to study the hot gas plummeting into the black hole and also some matter that escapes in the form of jets that travel close to the speed of light DAVID RUSSELL Assistant professor, NYUAD