(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Residents of Qatar can see three planets get close to the moon this month, Qatar Calendar House (QCH) has said citing astronomical calculations.
These celestial shows provide an opportunity to view the planets and the moon together with the naked eye or through digital cameras, and also act as a guide for amateur astronomers to understand the map of the sky through the month, noted astronomer Dr Beshir Marzouk has said in a statement issued jointly with QCH director Dr Mohamed al-Ansari.
The first phenomenon involves planet Mars, which will come close to the moon in the dawn sky on December 14 - at three degrees from the southern moon's centre, according to QCH. Qatar residents can see Mars and the moon together with their naked eye over the eastern horizon of the Doha dawn sky from the rising time of the moon until ahead of sunrise. The moon will rise in the Doha sky at 3.37am, while sunrise will be at 6.11am.
Then, on December 15, Jupiter will come close to the moon and will be at two degrees from the southern moon's centre. Qatar residents will be able to see Jupiter and the moon together with the naked eye over the eastern horizon of the Doha dawn sky from the rising of the moon until before sunrise. The moon will rise in the Doha sky at 3.29am, Dr Marzouk explained.
Finally, Mercury will come close to the moon on December 17, and will be at two degrees from the southern moon's centre. Qatar residents can observe Mercury together with the moon over the eastern horizon of the Doha sky. However, it will be hard to see with the naked eye because Mercury's rising time will be close to sunrise, QCH added.


Qatar, Italy ‘partners in anti-terror fight'
QNA
Doha


The Diplomatic Institute of the Foreign Ministry has hosted Italian ambassador to Qatar Pasquale Salzano, where he gave a lecture on the Qatari-Italian relations and the 40 years since the beginning of relations between the two countries.
'The State of Qatar and Italy are partners in the fight against terrorism and are members of an international coalition against terrorism, said Salzano.
'The two countries have a lot of special activities to combat this phenomenon, which must be defeated in order to restore peace to the countries that are hit by terrorism, he added.
He also spoke about the development of relations between Qatar and Italy, referring to the visit of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Italy, and the visit of the Italian prime minister to Doha as well as the visits of a number of ministers to Qatar during the past three months. The ambassador said that the volume of trade between Qatar and Italy increased by 11% during the last six months, reaching about QR3.7bn ($1bn) compared to the same period last year.
'There is a steady increase in the volume of trade between Qatar and Italy, and keenness to further strengthening relations between Italian institutions and their Qatari counterparts, as well as the development of visions on many international issues, he added, noting that the Qatari-Italian relations are a model of relations between countries because of the keenness to develop co-operation in the interest of both peoples and the two friendly countries.
The ambassador expressed his country's appreciation for the Qatari initiative to provide in-kind assistance to the Italian people during the earthquake last year, pointing out that this is an expression of true friendship between the two countries.
He said that the number of Qatari visas has increased by 30%, as Italy has become a distinctive tourist destination for Qataris, pointing to the rise of the Qatari tourists to 60%.
He said that Qatari investments in Italy amounted to more than 2bn euros, pointing out that it is a strategic investment for generations.
Qatar Airways has bought the Italian Meridian airline and now has four flights a day to Italy, he said, adding that about 49% of the growth in the airline industry in Italy is with Qatari investments. The ambassador said that the Qatari investment is concentrated in a number of Italian tourist cities and the island of Sardinia is one of them.
He pointed out that Qatar invests in all fields including the technology sector, and it imports a lot of industrial machinery from Italy.

Last updated: December 04 2017 12:21 AM

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