المملكة: Wednesday, July 15, the beginning of the astronomical month of Safar… and the crescent moon stays 18 minutes after sunset
The President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Engineer Majed Abu Zahra, explained that Astronomical calculationsindicate that the moon will reach conjunction For the month of Safar1448 AH on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 12:43 noon Mecca time, which is the moment when the moon moves from the west of the sun to its east, announcing the beginning of a new synodic lunar month in astronomical terms.
Abu Zahra stated that the sun will set on the horizon of Mecca at 7:07 p.m., while the moon will be at a height of two degrees above the western horizon, with an angular elongation of three degrees, with an illumination rate not exceeding 0.1% of its disk, indicating that it will set at 7:25 p.m., that is, 18 minutes after sunset, which achieves Astronomical conditions Calculating the beginning of the lunar month.
He added that after the moment of conjunction, the moon enters the crescent phase, where it begins to gradually move away from the glare of the sun, with its elongation increasing and its height above the horizon, which improves the chances of observing it in the following days.
He pointed out that the evening of Wednesday, July 15, 2026, will witness better conditions for viewing the crescent, as it will appear at an altitude of about 13 degrees above the western horizon, with an angular elongation of 16 degrees, while the illumination of its disk will rise to 2.2%, pointing out that the crescent will remain in the sky until 8:15 p.m., that is, for an hour and eight minutes after sunset, which makes it easy to see with the naked eye in most parts of the Arab world.
The President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah confirmed that, based on these data, it is astronomically expected that Wednesday, July 15, 2026, will be the beginning of the month of Safar 1448 AH.
Abu Zahra concluded by emphasizing that astronomical calculations have high accuracy in determining the positions and phases of the moon, but the official announcement of the entry of the Hijri months in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains the responsibility of the official authorities concerned with investigating the crescent and announcing the confirmation of its sighting.
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