Abu Dhabi observatory captures images of rare interstellar comet

An astronomy centre deep in the Abu Dhabi desert has captured images of an interstellar comet streaking across the sky.

Al Khatim Astronomical Observatory recorded 45 images of the rare celestial object – which Nasa says originated from outside our solar system – on Thursday night.

The observatory submitted its results to the Minor Planet Centre of the International Astronomical Union, making it the first Arab observatory to conduct scientific observations of the comet, state news agency Wam reported.

The comet, which has been named 3I/Atlas, is about 670 million km from Earth.

The Abu Dhabi team said sighting the comet was challenging as it appeared very faint and was visible only through large telescopes.

The observation lasted 45 minutes. The comet appears in the images as a moving dot, while the stars appear as streaks.

Nasa said the comet would remain visible to ground-based telescopes until September, after which it will be passing too close to the Sun to be observed.

It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, once again allowing for observation.

“The comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million km),” a statement from the US space agency read.

“It is currently about 4.5 au from the Sun. 3I/Atlas will reach its closest approach to the Sun around October 30, at a distance of 1.4 au – just inside the orbit of Mars.”

The celestial object, originally called A11pl3Z, was first reported by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas) survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, on Tuesday.

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Your rights as an employee

The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.

The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.

If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.

Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.

The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.

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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)

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Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones 

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THE SPECS

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Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder /  3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
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