Ramadan: Appearance of crescent on May 16 - NASRDA
- The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), said the lunar crescent of Ramadan will appear in Nigeria on Wednesday, May 16
- the appearance of the moon is expected to signify the beginning of Ramadan in line with Islamic tradition.
- The agency explained that the first conjunction of the moon will occur at about 12:48 pm on Tuesday May, 15
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on Friday, May 4, said the crescent for this year's Islamic lunar month of fasting, Ramadan, will be visible on Wednesday, May 16, Daily Trust reports.
Legit.ng gathered that a statement from the country's space agency said: "NASRDA has successfully calculated and predicted that the first appearance of the first astronomical Lunar crescent for Ramadan will be sighted on Wednesday 16th May".
Muslims commence Ramadan fast a day after the appearance the crescent or after the completion of 30 days of Sha'abaan, the immediate month preceding Ramadan.
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In the statement signed by Dr Felix Ale, the head of media and corporate communications of the agency, the appearance of the moon is expected to signify the beginning of Ramadan in line with Islamic tradition.
The statement further explained that the first conjunction of the moon will occur at about 12:48pm on Tuesday, May 15, but will later appear in Nigeria on Wednesday at 12.05 hours and can only be viewed with a Charged Couple Device (CCD), an Astronomical telescope, or any good optical astronomy instrument.
However, Ale said, the young moon will be observable in Nigeria with unaided eyes between 6:11pm and 8:09pm, with Port Harcourt, Maiduguri and Taraba being the first to witness it at 6:11pm to 6:50pm, 6:56 pm to 7:35 pm, and 6:59 to 7:30 pm respectively on Wednesday 16th May, 2018.
While it will be sighted lastly in Kebbi state between 7:33pm to 8:12pm, and in Sokoto and Ogun States between 7:29pm and 8:09pm concurrently, and in Lagos state between 7:28pm and 8:08pm on same day.
The spokesman said all other states of the federation will experience the lunar crescent at an estimated time of 6:11pm and 8:09 pm on May 16.
The lunar crescent will appear in Abuja between 7:18pm and 7:58pm while appearance of the moon in Kano will be experienced at 7:15pm and end at 7:54pm.
And, in Katsina the moon will appear between the hours of 6:55 pm and 7:34 pm, while Enugu and Kaduna will experience the first appearance between the hours of 6:39 pm and 7:50 pm and 6:45 pm and 7:57 pm respectively.
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In a previous report by Legit.ng, a religious organisation, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) on Thursday, May 4, urged Nigerians to be on the alert and do their utmost to prevent and curb the destruction of innocent lives by criminal and terrorists.
The clarion call came in a statement issued in Kaduna by the JNI secretary general, Khalid Abubakar, which mainly bordered on the recent bomb blasts in Mubi in which 85 Muslims were killed and many others seriously wounded, The Cable reports.
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Source: Legit.ng
