Space enthusiasts around the world are taking to Twitter to post their own depictions of Mars, drawing from data shared by the UAE.
The Emirates Mars Mission released its first full science data set, including data from its three instruments, on October 1. About 500 images from the Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI) system are included in the data set and thousands more are expected with the next release in January 2022.
The observations were made by the Hope probe as it orbited the Red Planet between February 9 and May 22 this year.
One thing that was not predicted by the scientists at the UAE mission was the reaction from the public upon receiving the information.
After downloading the image data from the EXI system, enthusiasts have been processing their own images of Mars using the high-resolution output from the instrument.
“We have been very pleased to see the Mars images captured by Hope probe being shared over Twitter by the local and international community,” said Hessa Al Matroushi, science lead at the Emirates Mars Mission.
“The diverse range of treatments of the EXI images has opened up new views and perspectives.”
The EXI camera is capable of taking highly detailed images and is being used to measure water, ice and ozone in the atmosphere of Mars.
The system was developed at the University of Colorado Boulder, in collaboration with Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
In the first 10 days of the data release, about two terabytes of information had been downloaded from the Science Data Centre, of which 1.5tb is EXI data.
“EXI has already surpassed our expectations and its first observations have been taking place throughout the Martian cloudy season,” said Ms Al Matroushi .
“We know that, during this time – spring and summer in the Martian northern hemisphere – a belt of clouds forms near the equator.
“We’re now able to see daily changes and are building a library that will allow us to measure seasonal changes in the dynamics of those cloud formations.”
Emirates Mars Mission is studying the relationship between the upper layer and lower regions of the Martian atmosphere, giving the international science community full access to a holistic view at different times of the day, through the seasons.
The Hope probe is following its planned 20,000 to 43,000-kilometre elliptical science orbit, with an inclination to Mars, giving it the unique ability to complete one orbit of the planet every 55 hours.
It can capture a full planetary data samples every nine days throughout its one-Martian-year mission (two Earth years) to map Mars’ atmospheric dynamics.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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