Crescent Moon Still Below Horizon in Lombok, NTB: BMKG Explains

Jakarta, VIVA – The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has reported the current position of the crescent moon (hilal) at the Moon Observation Centre in North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The hilal was observed to still be below the horizon at a height of minus 1.268 degrees.

Head of the Mataram Geophysics Station, Sumawan, explained that with the moon still positioned below the horizon line and the extremely small elongation, the hilal cannot be astronomically observed with any clarity.

“The hilal height is minus 1.268 degrees and the elongation is 1.208 degrees,” he said in a report from Mataram on Tuesday, 17 February 2026.

According to him, the hilal generally has the potential to be clearly visible if it is above the horizon at a positive height and has a minimum elongation of approximately 6 to 7 degrees.

In addition to conducting hilal monitoring in North Lombok, the NTB BMKG has also prepared a rukyatul hilal observation point at Loang Baloq Beach in Mataram City. The hilal observation activity is scheduled to take place at 17:00 Central Indonesian Time (WITA) on Wednesday (18 February).

Sumawan explained that the hilal height during tomorrow’s (18 February) afternoon observation would reach 8.287 degrees with an elongation of 11.588 degrees.

Based on earlier reports, the Ministry of Religious Affairs held an isbat session to determine the beginning of the Hijri month in Jakarta on Tuesday (17 February).

The result of the isbat session serves as the central government’s official basis for determining the start of the Ramadan fast for the Indonesian public.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs together with the BMKG conducted simultaneous hilal monitoring at 133 points spread across Indonesia, with 96 points monitored by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and 37 points by the BMKG.