The Nakshatra paranormal campaign was conducted by 60 volunteers, including EMA team members, University of Colorado students, Emirati students and other paranormal campaign volunteers.
The Emirates Mission to Asteroid BeltFrom the group of United Arab Emirates Space Agency The final asteroid of the mission conducted an occultation campaign for Justitia. The campaign aims to observe the shadow of an asteroid passing in front of a star and gather data to develop a deeper understanding of Justitia’s size, orbit and albedo. It comes as part of the mission’s mission to successfully reach its final asteroid, Justitia.
The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) is the first mission to study seven asteroids in the main belt. It consisted of a six-year spacecraft design and development phase followed by a launch and a seven-year mission to the main asteroid belt beyond Mars, with a series of flybys of six main belt asteroids and a final rendezvous with the asteroid Justitia.
Mohsen Al Awadhi, director of the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA), said: “The campaign to observe Justitia in front of the star is an important step towards achieving the objectives of the EMA. An in-depth understanding of Justitia’s size, orbit, and albedo before launching the mission is essential to ensure its success, as well as to develop effective strategies for exploring it.
Al Awadi added: “We seek to expand the scientific horizons of the national workforce and equip them with the necessary skills to lead the future of astronomy in the UAE. This aligns with Emirates’ mission to the asteroid belt, which spans 12 years between development, design and actual mission.
The Nakshatra paranormal campaign was conducted by 60 volunteers, including EMA team members, University of Colorado students, Emirati students and other paranormal campaign volunteers. All volunteers had to take three trainings to prepare for the campaign, one during the day to learn how to set up the telescope, and one at night to learn how to collect data from around 2pm to 4am.
During the week of the campaign, the site of the campaign was chosen to be Weedland, Wyoming, based on the weather where Justidia’s shadow would pass. Two-person teams were packed with telescopes to travel from Colorado to a station in Wyoming. Teams arrive at Wheatland the day before the occultation date to scout out sites to set up their telescopes and conduct final training at the site at the same time as the actual occultation (4am). To ensure everything is ready for the actual event.
30th eveningTh In August, the team moved to their sites and set up their telescopes to observe the transit of the target star by the asteroid Justitia. At 34 stations, spaced 2 km apart, the teams collected data on the target star’s light, as the light went out when Justidea passed in front of it. The campaign was a success, and data from each station is currently being combined to better determine Justitia’s shape.
The campaign includes Emirati student volunteers currently studying in the US, Amir Al Sawwafi, Sultan Albloushi, Hamdan Almansoori and Khalid Al Naqbi. The mission was determined to include as many Emirati students as possible in order to encourage Emirati students to participate in this important field and develop their skills and understanding of the work and its goals in astronomy. The exercise is part of the UAE Space Agency’s efforts to raise awareness of the importance of astronomy and space exploration and encourage Emirati youth to participate in this vital field.