The crescent moon appears above the southern Iraqi city of Basra on the first day of the Islamic ... [+] holy month of Ramadan on March 23, 2023. (Photo by Hussein Faleh / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesThe Islamic holy month of Ramadan and Easter in the Christian calendar are just two major religious festivals determined by the moon.The first one is Ramadan, which will begin this weekend though the exact time is still unknown. Easter comes in April this year. However, a "blood moon" total lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse will occur between the two occasions.Here's how the moon determines Ramadan and Easter.When Is Ramadan In 2025?Ramadan a month traditionally associated with dawn-to-sunset fasting will begin on the evenings of Friday, Feb. 28, Saturday, March 1, 2025, or even (possibly) Sunday, March 2, 2025. Why the mystery? The beginning (and end) of each month of the Islamic calendar is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon right after the new moon. Ramadan is the ninth month.With a new moon (when the moon is between the Earth and the sun, so lost in its glare) occurring on Thursday, Feb. 27, a crescent moon will appear very low and very slim in the western sky just after sunset on Friday, and slightly higher and brighter on Saturday and Sunday. This event is known as the Ramadan Moon.When Is Ramadan In 2026?Since the Islamic calendar follows a 354-day lunar year (12 orbits of Earth by the moon), each month lasts 29.5 days and the dates shift about 11 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar. So Ramadan will next begin on Feb. 17 or Feb. 18, 2026.This pattern is familiar to astronomers since all moon-related events do so. For example, full moons occur 11 days earlier each year. It's the same with eclipses (there was one last April 8, 2024, in North America; this year's is on March 29).When Is The Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse And The Solar Eclipse?The total lunar eclipse on March 13-14, 2025, and the partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025, are unrelated to Ramadan. However, their timings coincide. While the total lunar eclipse best seen in North and South America will occur halfway through Ramadan, the solar eclipse will effectively end Ramadan.Visible at sunrise in eastern parts of North America as an eclipsed sunrise and in mid-morning across Europe, about 94% of the sun will blocked by the moon close to its maximum in Canada.When Will Ramadan 2025 End?Since a solar eclipse by definition occurs at new moon, observers will be outside looking west just after sunset on Sunday, March 30 and Monday, March 31, 2025, looking for the new moon. It's known as the Shawwal Moon. Its sighting will signal the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid al-Fitr, a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.When Is Easter Sunday 2025?The moons phases also play a role in Western Christianity, with the date of the first full moon following the spring equinox vitally important in determining the date of Easter.In Western Christianity, Easter Sunday occurs on the first Sunday following the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. Since the equinox is on March 21, the next full moon is the Pink Moon on April 13, with Easter therefore observed on the following Sunday. The moon that determines Easter is called the Paschal Moon. Western Christianity's Easter 2026 will occur on April 5, 2026.Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.