Space fan opens out-of-the-world rock collection
dubai — Who would have thought that an odd-looking rock on the ground could actually be equivalent to a lottery ticket?
An Emirati space fanatic in Dubai, Hasan Al Hariri, has been one step ahead of all of us. He has a personal collection of meteorites and rocks from the moon and Mars, worth “millions of dollars”.
The one that he’s most proud of, however, is a four-billion-old meteorite that he collected from Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert four years ago, and it is also valued at millions.
However, it’s not about profiting off these space rocks for Hariri, who is the CEO of the Dubai Astronomy Group and the UAE’s largest observatory, Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre. He’s displaying them at the centre, located inside Mushrif Park, to educate people about astronomy. The centre’s construction has recently been fully completed, offering residents an out-of-this-world experience with advanced telescopes, a new rotating observatory dome and astronomy lessons.
“We wanted to create a project that would contribute to the development of people and spread the knowledge of astronomy,” he told Khaleej Times.
“We are trying to make people connect with the universe and understand what it is. When people come to the centre, they’ll be using their five senses to experience what we offer. They’ll use their sight to see the stars, touch objects from space, and also taste space food when we have the astro-café.”
“We have a meteorite lab here, where people can learn about space rocks, how they’re formed, what happens when they enter the earth’s orbit, and when they fall down. We want people to learn how to identify them, read the story behind them, and how to hunt for them.”
The lab has about 300 meteorites and other space rocks on display, with the heaviest one weighing a total of 66kg.
The centre also has a robotics and lego lab, a library, a 100-seat theatre, an astronomy shop and an observatory for kids.
The most appealing feature of the facility, though, is the newly built rotating observatory dome. It’s equipped with advanced telescopes and the roof of the dome opens up for viewing.
Just the dome alone has a 16-inch and 10-inch telescope, three solar telescopes, and two for astro-photographs and astrographs. According to Hariri, the observatory dome had cost more than Dh10 million to build, including the equipment.
In total, Hariri has a personal collection of more than 45 telescopes, which he keeps at the centre for public use.
“Because of the location we’re in, it causes the challenge of light pollution, the humidity, the heat. Usually, people don’t make observatories at sea levels, but on mountains, to avoid these challenges. To avoid these obstacles, we’ve designed the dome to protect us from these three elements.
“The dome itself has been made from stainless steel 316, which is used to make steel pillars and pipes for deep sea operations, so it doesn’t ever get rusted. Between the inner and outer layer, we have an insulation to prevent the heat from coming in,” Hariri said.
To protect the expensive equipment and other electronics, a special AC system with sensors has been installed to keep the dust out of the entire building.
The centre, which is a project overseen by the Dubai Municipality, is open to the public free of entry, however, to use the telescopes, it’s about Dh10 per person.
We are trying to make people connect with the universe and understand what it is. When people come to the centre, they’ll be using their five senses to experience what we offer.”
Hasan Al Hariri, CEO, Dubai Astronomy Group and Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre