Saudi Gazette reportJEDDAH — The crescent moon marking the start of the month of Sha‘ban was sighted Tuesday night shortly after sundown, showing low on the southwestern horizon, confirming the beginning of the brand new lunar month. Majed Abu Zahra, director of the Jeddah Astronomy Society, mentioned the moon had entered its central conjunction section late Sunday evening, akin to Rajab 29, 1447 AH, at 10:51 p.m. native time in Makkah. He defined that the conjunction marked the moon’s transition from west to east of the solar, an astronomical indicator of the start of a brand new lunar cycle. Because the moon moved farther away from the solar’s brightness, visibility circumstances improved, permitting the crescent to be noticed on Tuesday night. The confirmed sighting of the Sha‘ban crescent is critical within the Islamic lunar calendar, because the month precedes Ramadan and helps decide the timing of key non secular observances.




