Dubai: With Ramadan just around the corner, are you aware of how many hours will Muslims in the UAE be fasting for?
In a statement issued by the news agency Wam recently, Ebrahim Al Jarwan, General Supervisor at Sharjah Planetarium, said: "The new moon of Ramadan is to appear on June 5 at around 6.59pm UAE time, but it will disappear at around 7.25pm or 17 minutes after sunset of the same day.
He also pointed out that despite the low height of the new moon of Ramadan, it can still be seen with advanced devices.
"The fasting time will reach a maximum of 15 hours and 10 minutes," said Al Jarwan, who is also a researcher in astronomy.
The holy month of Ramadan is expected to start on June 6, and throughout the four weeks, temperatures are expected to remain at an average of 42 and 43 degrees Celsius across the country.
Al Jarwan explained that since 2012, the hours of fasting during Ramadan in the UAE has been the longest recorded, and that these extensive hours of daylight is expected to continue until 2018.
"The fasting time has increased by 10 minutes every Ramadan since 2012, and [long periods] of fasting happens every 33 years.
Residents of the eastern coast of the country will be the first to break and start their fast, while those living at the western region and the emirate of Abu Dhabi will be the last."
