Saudi Arabia | The Horizons Astronomical Society predicts that Wednesday will be the first day of Ramadan

The Saudi organization "Afaq for Astronomy" predicted that Wednesday, February 18th, will be the first day of Ramadan. In a statement issued on Saturday regarding the sighting of the Ramadan crescent, they outlined the criteria being considered. They indicated that the first criterion is the timing of the central conjunction (new moon), which will occur on Tuesday at 3:01 PM Saudi time.

She added that what distinguishes this conjunction is that it is of the type visible to the naked eye, due to its coinciding with the annular solar eclipse that will occur over parts of the southern hemisphere on that day.

As for the second criterion, the association pointed out that it lies in the setting of the sun and moon on the horizon of Mecca, adding that the sun sets at 06:18 pm, while the moon sets at 06:21 pm, and thus the crescent moon stays above the western horizon for a period of no less than three minutes, according to calculations.

She also explained that "it is observed that the duration of stay increases as we move westward towards Africa. For example, the crescent moon stays for about 11 minutes above the western horizon of the city of Agadir in Morocco.

It concluded that, based on these astronomical data, including the occurrence of the conjunction before sunset and the confirmed presence of the crescent moon above the horizon after sunset, Wednesday, February 18, 2026, is expected to be the first day of Ramadan according to astronomical calculations.