Suhail star spotted! Time to say goodbye to extreme summers in the UAE
In Emirati culture, the appearance of Suhail heralds a new season of fishing and farming
Dubai: The Suhail star has finally risen, it’s time to say goodbye to the sweltering summer heat in the UAE, which touched 50°C a few times this year.
On Wednesday, the International Astronomy Center shared a tweet announcing that the Suhail star had been spotted. The sighting marks a shift in weather in the Arabian Peninsula.
Also known as Canopus, the star appeared in the early hours of twilight on August 24, over central Arabia, according to the tweet by the astronomy center.
Drop in temperature
The visibility of the Suhail star coincides with a fall in temperature by a few degrees, accompanied with an increase in humidity and Southeasterly winds, which tend to blow towards the Hajar Mountains in Oman and the east coast of the UAE.
A National Center of Meteorology expert told Gulf News last week that the maximum temperatures in the country will see a gradual decrease in the coming weeks.
What is the Suhail star?
in Emirati culture, the appearance of the Suhail star heralds a new season of “abundance”. As per Al Sadeem Observatory’s website alsadeemastronomy.ae, “the appearance of the Suhail star is the first day of the ‘Suhaili Year’, when [Emirati] people from the past based their fishing, pearl hunting, and farming activities on it. It is divided into 14 seasons.”