Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomy Society and member of the Arab Union for Space Sciences and Astronomy, stated that one of the most prominent astronomical events during the current year will be at the beginning of autumn, when Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will be seen at the end of this month and until mid-October.
The comet is steadily getting brighter as it approaches the Sun on September 27 and Earth on October 12, indicating that this comet is expected to be the brightest among the comets that can be seen during the year 2024.
He pointed out that areas of the world have begun to observe it, as it was observed in Australia at dawn with the beginning of nautical twilight, when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon, or about 45 to 50 minutes before sunrise, and at an altitude of 6 degrees, the comet’s tail appeared shining with an apparent magnitude of 4.3 (the apparent visible magnitude is six magnitudes above magnitude 1, and the weakest is magnitude 6). So far, it cannot be seen with the naked eye in the Emirates, but the possibility of seeing it will improve in the coming days.
In another context, the autumn season begins “astronomically” in the northern hemisphere of the Earth with the date of the autumnal equinox, when the sun is perpendicular to the equator, heading south, tomorrow, Saturday, September 22, at 4:44 PM UAE time.
Ibrahim Al Jarwan said that after the autumnal equinox, the night will be equal to the day in the Emirates, and the night will increase at the expense of the day, whose hours will continue to decrease, while permanent night will gradually begin to prevail over the northern polar regions until the arrival of spring.
He pointed out that temperatures begin to gradually decrease towards moderation, while the night cold begins when the minimum temperatures drop below 20 degrees Celsius at night, starting from mid-October to mid-April, and the day cold begins when the maximum temperatures drop below 30 degrees Celsius during the day, from mid-November to mid-March.
The autumn rainy season is from mid-October to mid-December. The amount of rainfall during autumn is approximately 22% of the total rainfall and is concentrated in the latter half of the season.
Humidity remains high, causing fog and dew to form in the morning, especially from mid-September to mid-November, and fog formation is frequent late at night and early in the morning.
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