Galaxy Origins
Ras Al Khaimah moments
Born at Saqr Hospital. Engaged on the summit road of Jebel Jais, the highest point in the country, married in a desert camp or a resort on Al Hamra with the mountains behind. A villa on the creek, a weekend home on Marjan Island. On the mountain road above Ras Al Khaimah the night sky is darker than anywhere on the coast, and the people who live there know it.
- Jebel Jais · she said yes · 2025
- Saqr Hospital · 1.15 am · our daughter
For a family from Ras Al Khaimah now living in Dubai: the sky above the mountains on their day.
Giving it in Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah is where people in the UAE go to see the stars: the road up Jebel Jais, a desert camp outside the city, a beach on Marjan Island after dark. That makes it the most natural place for a gift built from the night sky.
The moments here are often getaways: a proposal on the mountain, a small wedding at a resort on Al Hamra, an anniversary weekend away from Dubai. Each has a time and a place, and that is enough to find its galaxy.
The Needle Galaxy, one of the most photographed edge-on spirals in the sky, passes within a fifth of a degree of the point straight above Ras Al Khaimah. It goes to one moment only, like every galaxy we offer.
Overhead in Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah, at 25.8° north, has 4,144 catalogued galaxies passing near its zenith. Five of the larger ones on offer, including one of the best-known edge-on spirals in the sky:
- Needle Galaxy (NGC 4565) · 59 million light years · 0.19° off · around 10 pm in early May
- NGC 7741 · 36 million light years · 0.27° off · around 10 pm in late October
- NGC 2623 · 261 million light years · 0.05° off · around 10 pm in early March
- NGC 4747 · 57 million light years · 0.02° off · around 10 pm in early May
- NGC 3251 · 242 million light years · 0.30° off · around 10 pm in early April
If your moment falls when one of these is overhead and it is still free, it can be yours; otherwise you receive its nearest unclaimed neighbour.
