The sun to align with the holy Kaaba on Thursday 14:18 PST

The sun will completely align with the holy Kaaba on Thursday, May 27 at 14:18 PST (12:18 Saudi time).

According to the astronomers’ calculations, this will be the time of year when the sun will be completely over the top of Kaaba, Baitullah at a zero shadow position.

The astronomers regard this as the celestial phenomenon called “zero shadow” that occurs twice every year at the Grand Mosque because of its location between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer.

Majed Abu Zahra, head of Jeddah’s Astronomical Society, said that the disc of the sun will be positioned immediately over the Kaaba and it will lose its shadow for a brief time.

“The Sun is 23.5 degrees north and south of the Earth’s axis and falls directly above the Equator in places lying on its equator during the Equinox,” he added, “There is no other axis than in this”.

“People can determine the exact direction of the holy Kaaba by placing a wooden stick vertically in the ground; the direction of the Qibla will be the exact opposite to the stick’s shadow,” Abu Zahra added.