The Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology (SAASST), through its astronomical observatory, has predicted that Friday, March 20, will mark the first day of Eid Al-Fitr across the UAE.

Calculations reveal no visible new moon on Wednesday, March 18, or 29 Ramadan, the eve of crescent sighting. The moon sets before the sun in the western sky that night. Thursday, March 19, thus rounds out the holy month, a WAM news agency report said quoting SAASST.

The observatory details the moon's surface conjunction over Sharjah at 4:24 am UAE time on Thursday. By sunset that evening, the crescent will boast just 14 hours and six minutes of age, a mere 6.5-degree elongation from the sun, and six degrees above the western horizon – lingering 29 minutes post-sunset.

These critical conditions render sighting improbable, even with telescopes, and impossible by naked eye locally. Advanced stacked imaging might capture it faintly, but odds remain slim.

Yet some Arab and Muslim nations may glimpse the crescent moon unaided or telescopically, thanks to favourable geography, it said.

Naked-eye or telescope reliant states might delay Eid to Saturday, it added.