Makkah To Witness First Lunar Alignment With Holy Kaabah This Year

JEDDAH, Feb 27 (Bernama-SPA) -- Makkah will witness its first lunar alignment of 2026 on Saturday evening, when the moon will appear almost directly above the Holy Kaabah, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Head of the Jeddah Astronomy Society Majid Abu Zahra stated that at the moment of alignment, the moon will be 374,187 kilometres from Earth with 91 per cent illumination, coinciding with its conjunction with the Al-Nathra star cluster in the constellation Cancer.

This celestial phenomenon allows observers worldwide to accurately determine the direction of the Qibla simply by looking toward the moon at the precise time it crosses Makkah's meridian.

-- BERNAMA-SPA