Khaberni - On Sunday, the fifty days of winter begin, starting with Sa'd Al-Dhahab according to popular heritage in Jordan and neighboring areas, as stated by the president of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, Ammar Al-Sakaji.
He said, "After Sa'd Al-Dhahab, the Sa'uds follow one after another as consecutive seasons; Sa'd Bala', then Sa'd Al-Saud, then Sa'd Al-Akbiya (or Al-Khabaya), for the fifty days to continue for fifty days, until the spring equinox at 5:45 PM on Friday, March 20, 2026, according to Jordan time."
"The Arabs cleverly divided this period into four Sa'uds, as if the ancestors drew a climatic map in the language of narrative, welcoming the fifty days of winter... and welcome to Sa'd, even if it slaughters," according to Al-Sakaji.
He added, "As stated in the popular heritage: The fame is for Al-Muraba'aniyyah, and the act for February, indicating the severity of the cold, and Sa'd Al-Dhahab is considered the most severe and most memorable, and Sa'd Al-Dhahab lasts twelve and a half days."
Al-Sakaji said, "In popular narrative, Sa'd is depicted as the leader of the caravan, challenged the harsh winter, so he slaughtered his camel to survive the frost and severe cold, and some of his companions followed him; those who slaughtered their camels, warmed with their fat, and covered with their skin, survived the storm, and those who contradicted him met destruction, and as it is said: He who slaughtered was not slaughtered, and he who did not slaughter was slaughtered."
Astronomically, within the Arab star calendar or what is known as the science of Anwa', the beginning of Sa'd Al-Dhahab coincides with the rise of a star bearing the same name, known as "Star Dabih" as listed in the astronomical atlases of the International Astronomical Union, or by its scientific name "Beta Capricorni", one of the prominent stars of the Capricorn constellation.
Al-Sakaji added that this star appears to the observer as a single point of light, although modern telescopes reveal it as a complex binary star system, consisting of two main stars performing a quiet gravitational dance for millions of years, with the most prominent component being this yellow giant; a star that has surpassed the nuclear stability stage and begun to expand, glowing with a faint golden color, and this system is about 330 light years away from Earth.
He continued, "With the dawn of these days, the star Sa'd Al-Dhahab appears at a low elevation not exceeding eight degrees above the eastern/southern horizon of Jordan at the moment of sunrise on Sunday, in addition to its angular proximity to the sun's glare, whose angular distance does not exceed about nine degrees, and its magnitude is about 3, which makes its observation with the naked eye difficult, especially in areas affected by light pollution, but it remains possible in the deserts and countryside with the availability of suitable observation conditions."
For astronomy enthusiasts, Al-Sakaji clarified that the difficulty turns into pleasure; it is possible, by using binoculars or small telescopes, to capture this "yellow giant" as it silently announces the start of one of the winter phases, pointing out that "it's a rare moment when popular timing meets precise astronomical calculations, and the Astronomical Society has observed this star in previous years during this period."
He added, "But today, with the development of science and technology, weather knowledge no longer depends solely on astronomical events as in the past, but is determined with high accuracy through modern meteorological models, satellite images, and direct measurements of basic weather elements such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed."
These tools allow for accurately predicting weather changes in the short and medium term, tracking the development of air masses and atmospheric lows moment by moment, and thus, reading the weather has become a science based on data and mathematical and physical modeling, not solely on traditional observation, although this heritage still holds cultural and cognitive value in understanding the ancient human relationship with the sky and seasons, according to Al-Sakaji.
