The government of Saudi Arabia has announced that the “moon sighting” for the Hajj month of Dhulhijja 1444 AH will take place on the evening of Sunday, 18 June 2023. That evening corresponds to 29 Dhulqadah 1444 AH according to Ummul Qura calendar.
The moon will be 11 hours 27 minutes old in Makkah at the time of sunset. It will be about 30 minutes above the horizon before sets. The moon will be about 5.14 degrees above the horizon at sunset time in Makkah and about 7.01 degrees elongation from the sun. The crescent moon will be barely illuminated at 0.37%.
With such position, the crescent moon will be very hard target for binoculars and telescope and impossible to be sighted using naked eye based on Yallop’s and Odeh’s criterion for crescent moon visibility. Nevertheless, gauging pass experience in Saudi’s moon sighting practice, there will likely be “claim of moon sighting” for the crescent moon of 1 Dhulhijjah 1444 AH on Sunday evening. Therefore, we can expect that 1 Dhulhijjah 1444 AH will correspond to Monday, 19 June 2023 in Saudi Arabia.
Simulation of the crescent shape on Sunday, 18 June 2023 at sunset time in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
