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Stunning images show meteors spotted in UAE skies, including 198 Preseids
The brightest meteor recorded last night had a magnitude of -8.5. It appeared at 2:41am local time
- PUBLISHED: Thu 13 Aug 2026, 6:32 PM
UAE skies saw high astronomical activity early on August 13, 2026, as more than 800 images of meteors were captured, most of which were associated with the Perseid meteor shower, as per the International Astronomy Centre, which published images of skies overcrowded by the celestial bodies.
The capturing of images was carried out by the UAE Meteor and Fireball Monitoring Network, which is operated by the centre. The network, which automatically photographs meteors as they appear in the sky, consists of three stations located at different sites in the Abu Dhabi desert, with each station equipped with 17 low-light-sensitive video cameras capable of capturing meteors as faint as magnitude 6.5.
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After analysing the orbital elements of the captured meteors, the network determined that 198 were associated with the Perseid meteor shower. They were photographed during an observation period that began at around 10pm and continued until dawn at approximately 5am.
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The brightest meteor recorded last night had a magnitude of -8.5, making it roughly as bright as the Moon when it is just under half full. It appeared at 2:41am local time. The UAE network also captured and documented 14 Perseid fireballs last night—meteors brighter than Jupiter—while 74 Perseid meteors had a brightness greater than magnitude zero.
Take a look at the Preseids meteors in UAE skies last night, here:
Using these images, the network managed to identify the trajectories of 265 meteors as they entered the atmosphere last night. Plotting a meteor’s trajectory means determining the orbital elements of the dust particle that was orbiting the Sun before entering Earth’s atmosphere and producing the observed meteor.
After photographing the meteors, the stations automatically analyse the images and determine each meteor’s trajectory and brightness. The data is then sent to an astronomical centre in the United States as part of international cooperation between the centre and other similar networks around the world, under the supervision of the US space agency, Nasa.
Here are more photos of fireballs and meteors in UAE skies:
In neighbouring Oman, a total of 332 meteors from the Perseid meteor shower were observed and documented early on Thursday, August 13, as part of a project that helps to build an observational record of astronomical phenomena observed in the skies of the Sultanate.
Yasmin Hussein is an Assistant Digital Editor who believes that every news story carries a human element. Her motto is 'get it first, but first get it right'.