Hello everyone,

Today I will be talking about 4 locations that I visited and I consider them the darkest 4 locations in UAE.

Below, I will post the results for each location some are wide field results and the others are deep space results.

Of course, there will be a huge difference between the light pollution in the city and between the mountains.

First I will be talking about the advantages and disadvantages of Al Fayyah Desert located at Sharjah.

Advantages – not too far from Dubai, dark enough to see till 8 magnitude objects.

Disadvantages – opened place, it can be windy easily.

here are the coordinates 25°6’32.0317”N 55°48’5.9882”E with a snap shot from Google earth.

Here are deep space results from Al Fayyah Desert location.

The heart of Andromeda Galaxy M31, NGC 224

Star Cluster M15, NGC 7078

The second location is Nazwa Desert located at Sharjah its close to Al Fayyah Desert and a bit darker than Al Fayyah Desert.

Advantages – not too far from Dubai, dark enough to see till 9 magnitude objects.

Disadvantages – opened place, it can be windy easily.

here are the coordinates 25°1’45.2741”N 55°44’46.6699”E with a snap shot from Google earth.

Here is one result from Nazwa

Star Cluster M 3, NGC 5272

The third location is Wadi Al Qahfi located at Oman close to UAE’s boarder the location is around 150km away from Dubai.

Advantages – dark enough to see the milky way in summer, dark enough to see 10+ magnitude objects. ( I prefer this location )

Disadvantages – the place is filled with insects, specially Mosquitoes.

here are the coordinates 24°42’44.4737”N 56°11’2.792”E with a snap shot from Google earth.

Al Qahfi results

The Image below I compared the light Pollution in the city of Dubai and Wadi Al Qafhi. both images are RAW

The Great Orion’s Nebula M42, NGC 1976

The forth location is Jabal Mebreh ( Jabal Yibir ). its one of the highest peaks in UAE. The mountain is located at Ras Al Khaimah. The Advantages of the place – Altitude, low Humidity and dust. Disadvantages – windy which make it hard to photograph using the telescope.

here is a picture taken by Google earth. Coordinates 25°38’20.1631”N 56°6’53.8034”E

here is a picture of the milky way from the mountain.