Clouds and Dust!

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Apr 10

2010

by Mike Simmons

Report on 30 Nights of StarPeace in Iraq

After considerable preparation for 30 Nights for StarPeace events in Iraq, bad weather seemed to cover the entire country. Clouds and dust hung over the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. It cleared later in the evening but by then everyone had gone. Other regions faired no better.

Erbil
Members and guests of the Amateur Astronomy Association of Kurdistan (AAAK) gathered in the office in the capital city of Kurdistan, Erbil, where they live video and phone contact with some of the participants in other countries via Skype. In countries holding StarPeace events, contacts were made with Khalid Marwat in Pakistan, Hassan Al-Hareri in UAE, Ahmed Shnoyee and Neda Mobara in Iran. Mponda Malozo in Tanzania, Joan Chambelin and Donna Smith in USA, and Marcelo Souza in Brazil joined in as guests.

Baghdad
"The weather terribly bad and dusty since two days ago!" said Dr.Nihad, chair of the Dept. of Physics at the University of Baghdad. The same report came from Mr.Jawad Kadhim, coordinator in Baghdad, who traveled to Al-Dewanya in the south in an unsuccessful attempt to find clear weather.

Al-Nasereyaha

Al-Nasereyaha faced weather worse than either Erbil or Baghdad, according to Hassan Al-Sabbar, the southern coordinator for the StarPeace event and founder of Alsabbar Observatory. "It was terrible day! There was a strong dust storm and the wind speed reached 100 Km/Hours!"

These Iraqi amateur astronomers are looking forward to better weather for their remaining GAM events.

Report provided by Azhy Hasan, Erbil, Iraq.