Crescent Sighting Tomorrow: Moon's Position on the Horizon

March 18, 2026 | 11:23 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The observers of the young crescent moon (hilal) in Bandung will gather again on Thursday, March 19, 2026, to determine 1 Syawal, marking Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijiri. According to Encep Abdul Rojak, the Head of the Observatory Albiruni at the Islamic University of Bandung (Unisba), the observation will be carried out together with representatives from the West Java Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Bandung, the Hisab and Rukyat Agency, as well as Islamic mass organizations.

The results of the monthly crescent moon observation serve as a reference for the initial determination of the Hijiri month or Islamic calendar by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the general public. "Hopefully, it won't rain this Thursday," said Encep on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

On the same day, the team from the Bosscha Observatory will conduct observations in two locations: Lembang in West Bandung Regency and Lhok Nga Observatory in Aceh. Lhok Nga was chosen as the location because the position of the moon in the Aceh region is around the visibility limit of the current hilal criteria. Observing this location is important for verifying the boundary conditions of the criteria through direct observation.

In the statement on the official Bosscha Observatory website, the moon's position this Thursday, which coincides with the 29th of Ramadan 1447 Hijiri, is considered to be very close to the sun at sunset. The moon's geometric parameters show that, as seen from the Indonesian region, the geocentric elongation, or angular distance of the moon from the sun, ranges from 4.6 to 6.2 degrees from east to west. Meanwhile, the topocentric elongation, or the angular distance of the moon from the sun as seen from an observer's location on Earth's surface, ranges from 4.0 to 5.5 degrees.

The moon's altitude at sunset is also relatively low. The moon's altitude map shows that the altitude of the hilal in Indonesia this Thursday ranges from 0 to 3 degrees above the horizon in the western part of Indonesia. This condition indicates that the moon is close to the sun in the western sky and at a low altitude above the horizon.

Astronomically, these conditions indicate that the hilal is at a challenging observation boundary. As is known, the Ministry of Religious Affairs adopts the provision that the minimum valid hilal height is 3 degrees with an elongation of 6.4 degrees according to the agreement of the Ministers of Religious Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (MABIMS). "The success of the observation will be greatly influenced by atmospheric conditions, sky transparency, as well as the experience and observation methods used," reads the statement from the Bosscha Observatory.

Other data from the Bosscha Observatory states that the conjunction, the position where the Earth, moon, and sun are on the same astronomical line, will occur this Thursday at 08:23 AM Western Indonesian Time (WIB). The sun will set at exactly 06:00 PM, and the moon will follow 10 minutes later. At sunset, the moon will be 9 hours and 37 minutes old, with an illumination percentage of 0.20.

Meanwhile, Islamic mass organizations such as Muhammadiyah have announced since September 22, 2025, that Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijiri will fall on Friday, March 20, 2026. Meanwhile, the Islamic Union (Persis) announced on its official website that 1 Syawal will be on Saturday, March 21.

Thomas Djamaluddin, a research professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), explained that the difference is related to how the terms "local" and "global" are defined. "The local hilal definition with MABIMS criteria in the Southeast Asia region and the global hilal with the Unified Global Hijiri Calendar criteria," he said on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Thomas explained that the astronomical fact at dusk on Thursday is that the hilal height in Southeast Asia does not yet meet the new MABIMS criteria of a minimum of 3 degrees. Therefore, according to him, 1 Syawal 1447 Hijiri will fall on Saturday, March 21, with its determination awaiting the government's decision in the isbat session.

Meanwhile, according to the Unified Global Hijiri Calendar, Thomas explained that the moon's position has met the criteria because the conjunction occurred before dawn in New Zealand, so 1 Syawal, according to that calendar, falls on Friday, March 20.

Read: Crescent Sighting Sites Across Indonesia to Determine Start of Syawal Tomorrow

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