Qibla direction in Obninsk

How to face the Qibla in Obninsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 5.4° towards east: the result is the bearing of 174.6°. The direction is close to due south, which makes it easy to remember.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Obninsk, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Obninsk to Mecca points to 175.9°, only 1.2° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 174.6° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 174.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Obninsk (55.1099° N, 36.6124° E) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from Obninsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,755 km from Obninsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,416 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 55 min, although most pilgrims from Obninsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Obninsk run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Obninsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Obninsk

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Obninsk while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 12:14 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Obninsk during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Obninsk: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Obninsk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 96 km away, the Qibla in Obninsk is turned 1.7° further anticlockwise (174.6° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 66 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Serpukhov (55 km), prays towards 175.9°, a difference of 1.3°.

Across the 158 cities in Russia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 148.7° in Kaliningrad to 305.3° in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, a spread of 156.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Russia.

Qibla in cities near Obninsk

• Serpukhov175.9° · 55 km
• Kaluga173.9° · 68 km
• Podolsk176.2° · 69 km
• Odintsovo175.8° · 75 km
• Moscow176.4° · 96 km
• Khimki176.1° · 102 km