Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has approved the naming of the Islamic Crescent Observation and Moon Research Chair at King Abdul Aziz University after the late King Abdullah.

The Bin Ladin Group will provide SR39,330,500 for the chair. A team of consultants, scientists and local and international astronomy analysts will supervise it.

The chair represents one of the important extensions of the care and attention the late king paid to establish an international Islamic calendar based on the observation of the moon.

The role of the scientific chair is to define, publish and specify the time with utmost accuracy through the center.

It also aims to explain the time link between the sun and the moon which represent the two basic elements in defining the mechanism of timing using the astronomical system.

The chair will focus on conducting scientific and pragmatic researches from the highest point in Makkah at the iconic Makkah Clock Tower, where the headquarters of the chair is located.

About 13 observatories will be established to conduct scientific and astronomical researches, of which seven will be outside the Kingdom and six in different parts of the country.