The “Astronomical Seal” monitors a star explosion in the UAE sky.

Al-Khatem Astronomical Observatory monitored yesterday evening an astronomical phenomenon that was discovered on June 12th, which is the appearance of a bright star in the sky. It has been named “AT 2025nlr.” The star is located in the “Al-Sab’a” constellation in the southern half of the sky.
It is believed to be a “nova” phenomenon, i.e. the explosion of a star. Engineer Mohammed Shawkat Odeh, Director of Al-Khatem Astronomical Observatory, said that initial expectations indicate that this star is located close to us in the Milky Way galaxy. What distinguishes this phenomenon is that the star’s current brightness is relatively high, as it is of the eighth magnitude. This phenomenon does not occur often, which means that the star can be seen using small telescopes from a dark location. He added that the Al-Khatem Astronomical Observatory received a request yesterday evening from an international observatory to observe the star and conduct optical observations to determine its brightness using several optical filters.
In response, the Al-Khatem Astronomical Observatory directed its main telescope towards the star and conducted several optical observations. It was found to shine at magnitude 7.7 using an infrared filter, magnitude 8.2 with a green filter, and magnitude 8.3 with a blue filter. These results were sent to international bodies concerned with monitoring such phenomena. He pointed out that there is global interest in the phenomenon and requested international observatories to observe the star for 20 days from now, with the need to send the results urgently, given the scientific importance of these first days of the phenomenon in accurately analyzing and understanding it. He said that the importance of the Al-Khatem Observatory’s location is highlighted by the fact that the phenomenon is located in a relatively remote area in the southern hemisphere, and therefore the phenomenon cannot be observed from the northern hemisphere, including Europe and most of the United States, where many astronomical observatories are located.
“This star was discovered by a global program called the All Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN), which is an automated program for observing supernovae and other transient astronomical phenomena. It is led by a team of astronomers at The Ohio State University. The program includes 20 robotic telescopes distributed in the northern and southern hemispheres and can scan almost the entire sky once a day,” he added.