Nezar to inspire Young Emiratis to Reach for the Stars

The moment Nezar Hezam Sallam saw his first shooting star at the age of seven, he was instantly hooked on astronomy.

Now almost three decades later, the 34-year-old computer engineer is a walking expert on the universe, owns more than 70 telescopes and stargazes from the comfort of his own self-made mobile observatory.

“Astronomy is my life!” said Nezar, who works for the Abu Dhabi Police. “I’ll never forget, I was lying on my back looking up at the sky and I saw this shooting star and I ran to my mom to ask her so many questions.

“Since then it has become something different for me: it’s about knowing what’s beyond the stars. I believe I was born with this hobby in my blood.”

Nezar uses the expertise he’s build to educate young people and get them excited about astronomy by touring schools and colleges with his observatories.
“Astronomy is the perfect hobby to get into at a young age,” he said. “Anybody can do it. You don’t need expensive equipment, just a small pair of binoculars, and a simple map of the stars downloaded from the Internet.

“When I go to give a talk in a school, almost all the students are like ‘Wow! I want to be a scientist or I want to be an astronomer. That’s very encouraging for me, and makes me want to carry on doing this forever.”

Taken from:

Nezar to inspire Young Emiratis to Reach for the Stars