International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent -after sunset- was on Tuesday 06 May 2008 from Indonesia.

Monday 05 May 2008:

• Pakistan: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Sultan Alam said: "On my request, today i.e. on May 5, 2008(Monday, 28 Rabee-uth-thani 1429 in Pakistan), many members of personal moon sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" and my many friends tried to sight the moon all over the Pakistan but they could not sight the moon, as it was expected tonight that moon could not be sighted in Pakistan. Reporters are as follows:
  1. Maulana Mufti Habibullah + one scholar ("JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED", Ahsanabad, Karachi, Sindh. sky was polluted)
  2. Maulana Waqqas + 3 ulama (Nazimabad 4, Karachi, Sindh. Sky 8 degrees polluted)
  3. Maulana Mubashshir + some persons (Abbotabad, N.W.F.P. sky was partially cloudy)
  4. Maulana Shaukat (Swabi, N.W.F.P. sky was cloudy)
  5. Maulana Khushtar (Hyderabad, Sindh. sky was polluted.)
  6. Major Nasir + one person (Karachi, Sindh. sky was polluted)
  7. Maulana Abdul-Qahhar + one scholar (Pishin, Baluchistan. sky was cloudy)
  8. Maulana Abdul-Hakeem (Texela, Punjab. sky was clear)
  9. Maulana Shafee-ullah + some persons (Kohat, N.W.F.P. sky was cloudy and rainy.)"
  

• Germany: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "Our attempt to image the crescent around conjunction was quite successfull. We captured it just 5 minutes from conjunction. Some hours earlier we still saw a 90° arc, at less than 5° elongation. Some details and images can be found here: ( http://www.mondatlas.de/other/martinel/sicheln2008/mai/mosi20080505.html ). The imaging techniques used can definitely be improved to a near real-time experience. Also, the filters used this time captured some visible light, too. That might be of interest to someone." Note From ICOP: This crescent was seen by CCD imaging -not by direct visual observation- and it was done before sunset, thus it might not be valid for some Muslim groups as accepted sighting of the crescent to start the new Hejric month.

• UK:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Sulayman Gani said: "The sighting of the Hilal was attempted by the two us from the roof of Balham Masjid. The Western Horizon was cloudy. The Hilal was not seen."

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Abdurrashid Ayoubi from Kettering said: "Moon not sighted - cloudy horizon. Today (Monday) the moon was just over 18 hours old at sunset and so would have been difficult to observe by naked eye."

• USA:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Milad Ali Ershaghi from (Claremont, CA) mentioned that it was totally cloudy.

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Jim Stamm from (Tucson, AZ) said: "We tried to view the crescent for a few minutes after sunset through thin cloud and dust, before thick cloud covered the Moon."

Tuesday 06 May 2008:

• Indonesia: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mutoha Arkanuddin said: "On Tuesday evening 6 May 2008 our groups who organize by Indonesian Crescent Observation (ICO) have done sighting the crescent in many place of Indonesian Region. My team from Parangkusumo Beach who have 30 persons not success to see the the crescent because the western horizon was totally clody like the another teams in another places. However one of the teams who lead by Abdoel Moeid from Gresik (East Java) was success seen and taken the picture of the crescent.

  Observation report data:
  Location : Gresik, Indonesia
  Long/Lat : 112*37"24E / 7*10'11"S
  Elevation : 120 meters
  TZ : GMT+7
  Sunset : 17:21 LT (calculation)
  Moonset :19:06 LT (calculation)
  Crescent first seen : 17:31 LT (observed) - Altitude: 6°7' (theodolit)
  Crescent End seen : 17:39 LT (observed) - Altitude: 4°22' (theodolit)
  Number observer : 20 persons"

  
  

• Bangladesh: Seen: ICOP member, Mr. ABM Hassan said: " The sky was clear and the crescent was seen in Sylhet and Chittagong zone of Bangladesh on Tuesday,6th May."

• Pakistan: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Sultan Alam said:
  "On my request, today i.e. on May 6, 2008(Tuesday, 29 Rabee-uth-thani 1429 in Pakistan), many members of personal moon sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" and my many friends tried to sight the moon all over the Pakistan and they easily sighted the moon, as it was expected tonight that moon could be easily sighted in Pakistan and mostly populated world. Reporters are as follows:
  1. Maulana Noor Wahid Shah + one person (Madrasah Islamiah "a branch of JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED'' Battal, N.W.F.P. sky was partially cloudy.) He was the first person who reported me and the official moon sighting committee of Pakistan at 19:20 LT.
  2. Maulana Abdul-Qahhar (Pishin, Baluchistan. sky was partially cloudy)
  3. Maulana Abdul-Hakeem (Texela, Punjab. sky was clear)
  4. Maulana Rustam + 2 persons (Hango, N.W.F.P. SKY was partially cloudy)
  5. Maulana Faisal + Maulana Shahbaz + 20 ulama (Gaddi Bhit, Mitthi, Sindh, sky was very cloudy) Maulana Faisal sighted the moon first at 19:10 LT
  6. Raees Khan + 8 people c/o molvi adnan shahzad (Swabi, N.W.F.P.)
  7. Maulana Husain + many people (Charsaddah, N.W.F.P.)
  8. Manzoor + Shaukat + Imtiaz c/o molvi Samee-ullah (Mansehrah, N.W.F.P.)
  Note 1: I tried my best with 25 ulama and students to sight the moon in Nazimabad 4, Karachi Pakistan, but we could not sight due to very pollution and clouds. Many people tried in many places of Karachi but they could not sight the moon.
  Note 2: Vice Chairman of central official moon sighting committee of Pakistan told me on my personal mobile number that he has received the positive reports of moon sighting from many cities of Pakistan; therefore he has officially announced that 1st Jumadal-oola 1429 will be on Wednesday, 7 May 2008 in Pakistan after ending the 29 days of Rabee-uth-thani 1429."

• Iran:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said:
     Location: Adib Astronomical Society, Esfahan, Iran
     Latitude: 32° 37' 15" N
     Longitude: 51° 40' 37" E
     Elevation: 1597 meters from sea level
     Time zone: +4.5

     Date: Tuesday May 6, 2008 (Ordibehesht 17, 1387)
     Observers: Alireza Mehrani, Mrs. Mir Shamshirgaran and other members of Mahtab Crescent Observation Group
     Photographer: Alireza Mehrani
     Optical tools: 15x70 binoculars & Digital camera (Sony DSC H9)

     Date: Tuesday May 6, 2008 (Ordibehesht 17, 1387)
     Sunset (calculated): 19:49 LT (15:19 UT)
     Sunset (observed): 19:41 LT (15:11 UT)
     Temperature: +22 C°
     Barometer: 838.5 mb
     Visibility: 8 km
     Wind: 14.4 km/h

     Topocentric and local time values from "Moon Calculator" (Refrac off):
     Crescent first observation through 20x60 binoculars by Mr. Fakhkhar:
     Time: 19:44 LT (15:14 UT)
     Moon Alt: 15° 50' 30"
     Sun Alt: - (0° 03' 25")
     Elongation: 15° 47' 05"
     Rel Azi: - (0° 03' 17")
     Moon Width: 0.63'
     Moon Phase: 2.13%
     Moon Age: 26h 56m after conjunction

     Crescent first observation through naked eyes by Mrs. Mir Shamshirgaran:
     Time: 19:48 LT (15:18 UT)
     Moon Alt: 15° 05' 07"
     Sun Alt: - (0° 43' 58")

     Photo: amehrani-NM-May2008.jpg
     Time: 20:23 LT (15:53 UT)
     Moon Alt: 8° 34' 31"
     Sun Alt: - (7° 30' 49")
     Elongation: 16° 07' 40"
     Rel Azi: - (1° 07' 20")
     Moon Width: 0.66'
     Moon Phase: 2.23%
     

     

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "The crescent was seen by naked eyes and binoculars in Tehran."
     
     

• Iraq: Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Hassan Alsabbar said: "In Monday and Tuesday we could not see Jamadal Awwal Crescent because of the presence of clouds in the sky and dust storm."

• Kuwait: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "In Kuwait on Tuesday 6 may 2008 I saw the crescent in the following order: Sun disappeared at 18:16, Sunset at 18:28, first seen with binocular at 18:40, first seen with naked eyes at 18:47, last seen with naked eyes at 19:17, last seen with binocular at 19:23, Moonset at 19:53. So the crescent was seen with naked eyes after 19 minutes of sunset for 30 minutes and disappeared 36 minutes before its setting time. The western horizon was hazy up to 6~8 degrees. Yesterday on Monday 5 may 2008 the crescent was sure not seen."

• Saudi: Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The western horizon was cloudy and dusty."

• Bahrain: Seen: ICOP member Mr. A.Hameed Ali Haji said: "The sky near the western horizon was hazy and partly cloudy, the crescent was seen when it was (10) degree above horizon by LX200ACR 10inc telescope."

• Algeria: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Houcine Chikh Aissa said: "(04) persons were present in N'tissa station with two binoculars. (7*50)/(7*50) The new crescent of Jumadal Awwal 1429 was seen by naked eyes and by a binocular,the first seen by binoculars was at 19:56. Meurcury was not seen because The Sky Near The Western Horizon Wasby was Partly Cloudy."

• Morocco: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Othman Fadli mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

• Senegal: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Ibrahima Thierno Lo said: "I have seen the crescent Moon myself in Dakar Tuesday, May 6th, at 20:00 by naked eyes without difficulty. The sky was very clear. The moon was seen also by other friends in Louga (200 km from Dakar), in Matam (700 Km from Dakar), Kidira (East of Senegal). Hence 1st day of Jumada-al-Awwal 1429H in Senegal is on Wednesday, may. 7th, 2008 G."

• Tanzania:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Zaffar Sheriff said: "Clear sky with very small cloud clusters made it possible for the crescent sighting just 10minutes after sunset."
  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hamza Rijal said: "The Hillal was observed in Central part as well as Northern part of Unguja as well as in sister island of Pemba."

• Nigeria:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammed Ya'sin Qamardeen said: "It was cloudy and rainy here at Lagos at the time of filling this form. Also report from Ilorin, Kwara state indicated rainy and Bauchi report indicated total cloud horizon"

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Usman Dukku said: "It was cloudy here in Bauchi and in Ilorin and Lagos it was raining."

• South Africa: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim said: "Cape Town weather was overcast.The Hilaal was sighted in the Northern Province of South Africa."

• Germany:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Kadir Yucel said: "My wife and myself saw clearly the crescent 15 minutes after sunset."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann said: "Although the western sky was spotted with clouds, the crescent could be sighted by binoculars and by naked eye at the moment of sunset, at a still high altitude of nearly 16° - but only for a minute or so, then it was covered again by a large cloud, which persisted there nearly unmoving till the time of moonset."

• UK:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Maqsood Fazel said: "Masahallah a really beautiful crescent was easily seen in a clear evening Manchester sky."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Dr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti from Oxford said: "Positive sighting in Oxford. The two of us sighted the Jumada al-Ula crescent at our usual site at the end of the 29th day of Rabi' al-Akhir (Tuesday, 6 May 2007). We sighted the crescent at 21.50 (position: approximately 310 degrees West; altitude around 10 degrees). The horizon was clear on the western horizon and the orientation of the crescent was 150 degrees. This positive sighting means that the first day of Jumada al-Ula in the UK is tomorrow, Wednesday, the 7th of May. Allahu akbar, hilAlu khayrin wa-rushdin x3!"

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Dar mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

  4. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Qamar Uddin said: "I was easily able to sight the crescent moon (Hilal) from York (UK) today (Tuesday, 6/5/2008) after the sunset (Magrib) prayer. A lot of my colleagues from York Mosque were also able to confirm the sighting, which included Shaykh Zubair Ahmed, Professor Mohamed El-Gomati, Br Hatim Salih, Br Said Jomeen and many others. I have also received reports from many other parts of UK that a lot of Ulama and ordinary Muslims have been easily able to sight the crescent moon in large numbers. We also tried to sight the Hilal, yesterday (Monday, 5/5/2008) from York Astronomical Society (YAS), but were unable to do so even with a Meade LX200 computerised telescope (as the moon was only 8 hours old!). However, one of my YAS colleagues, Paul Burgess, promised to send me a photo of the crescent from today’s sighting, which is attached. Paul said, "Here is my picture taken at 9:40pm which shows the Moon and to the left the planet Mercury". The other details of the moon in the photo (taken with a Canon 350D handheld Camera with a 80 to 200mm zoom lens at the 200mm end, 1/8th sec at F5.6, ISO 1600) are, Location: 53:52N 1:11W, Age: 32:21 hours, Lagtime: 2:23 hours, Elongation: 19:01 Deg. The above moon sighting reports fulfil the Fiqh condition of Jamme-Gafir, i.e. on a clear sky a lot of people (50 - 500) have to sight the Hilal for it to be Shariah compliant. Therefore, the Ulama have decided that the month of Rabi-ul-Thani 1429AH will have 29 days and 1 Jamad-al-Ula 1429AH will start from Wednesday, 7/5/2008, Insha-Allah. I would like to request all UK Muslims to continue making an earnest effort to sight the crescent moon every month, which is a Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for all Muslims (and a Obligatory/Fard-e-Kifayah for the community leaders!)."
     

  5. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Baig from Slough said: "On Monday 5th I thought that there was a slim but fair chance of a sighting (my personal opinion) but unfortunately western horizon remained cloudy throughout the evening. Today (Tuesday 6th), it was there in its full glory and remained visible for nearly an hour."
     

• USA:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Javad Torabinejad from (Blacksburg, VA) mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

• Trinidad and Tobago: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Abdurrahman Ali mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

Tuesday 06 May 2008:

1. Saudi
2. UAE
3. Kuwait
4. Qatar
5. Bahrain
6. Jordan
7. Egypt
8. Algeria

Wednesday 07 May 2008:

1. Indonesia
2. Bangladesh
3. Pakistan
4. Iran
5. Morocco
6. Senegal
7. Tanzania
8. South Africa
9. Trinidad and Tobago

The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Monday 05 May 2008) at 12:18 UT.

Sunday 04 May 2008:

• Indonesia: Seen: ICOP member, Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi said: "The Old Crescent of Rabiul Tsani 1429 AH, was SEEN from my location PPMI Assalaam - Solo Indonesia (7°33'12.77" S,110°46'13.15" E, GMT+7, 111 m) on Sunday, 4 May 2008 @ 05:09 LT. The crescent was observed and seen @ 04:45 - 05:26 LT. I also tried to observe waning crescent on Monday 5 May 2008, but the eastern horizon was totally cloudy. More about CASA's activity, visit http://blogcasa.wordpress.com/"
  

• Iran: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said:
  "Location: Khajou Bridge, Esfahan, Iran
  Latitude: 32° 38' 12.86" N
  Longitude: 51° 41' 00.66" E
  Elevation: 1569 meters from sea level
  Time zone: +4.5
  Observer & photographer: Alireza Mehrani
  Camera: Digital camera (Sony DSC H9)
  Date: Sunday May 4, 2008 (Ordibehesht 15, 1387)
  Temperature: +13 C°
  Barometer: 1016 mb
  Visibility: 10 km
  Wind: Calm
  Humidity: 37%"
  

• Iraq: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hassan Alsabbar said: "In Sunday after sunrise in Diwaniya my city I take this picture Rabee Thani Old Crescent by use Meade telescope 10inch with Sony camera a200 DSLR."
  

• Germany: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "The -35h old moon could be seen from Munich, Germany through hazy clouds with the naked eye and binoculars."
  

• USA: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Jim Stamm said:
  "I hadn't planned to observe this event, considering it to be trivial. Then Roger Sinnott published a piece about the time interval between opposing Moons. I thought that maybe I could follow the old crescent several hours into the day and then by observing Monday's new Moon crescent, break my old record of 33 hours 9 minutes, obtained 21 January 1996.

  This observation was anything but trivial. I wanted to use my technique for pinpointing the location of the crescent despite the prediction of a naked eye crescent - for practice, and to look for ways of improving the technique. It turns out that I needed the technique.

  There were intermittent clouds all along the eastern horizon, well up into the sky. However, my plans worked well (except for not getting a limiting magnitude), and I was pointed at the correct location an hour before the Moon would rise above Pusch Ridge.

  When the time came, I was on a cloud, but engaging the clock drive, and following the invisible Moon for ten minutes brought it to a break, and the crescent was visible. However, it was too tenuous to be seen in the finder scope, let alone with the naked eye. I followed it for 41 minutes, and the image became less and less distinct. I wasn't able to measure the extent of the crescent with any precision. This was through several deep blue breaks in the clouds. At 06:13 a.m. (local) the crescent faded from view in a clear part of the sky - before the sun rose over Pusch Ridge.

  The significance of all of this? Ever since failing to see crescents which were 20-some hours from new, while easily observing them about 17 hours from new, when other conditions like altitude, atmosphere, and elongation were similar, I have considered it a mystery. I usually attributed that mystery to looking in the wrong place, being out of focus, or observing through inconspicuous weather problems. However, I was never fully satisfied with any of those explanations. Yesterday's observation has given me a hypothesis that I have long been considering.

  I believe that the reflectance for the edge of the Moon that we are seeking when observing the crescent varies considerably, and this reflectance is more determinant with respect to visibility than the calculated width of the crescent or the calculated percent illuminated. Furthermore, I suspect that the range in this effect is significant enough to become a greater factor in observability than clear sky atmospherics. Finally, I believe that we have a good enough understanding of the Moon's topography, geology, and libration to be able to predict the reflectance.

  Old Moon Crescent Observation Report
  ====================================
  Observed: 2008 May 04
  Location = Tucson, Arizona (USA)
  Longitude = 110.9645 W
  Latitude = 32.4204 N
  Elevation = 842 meters
  Time Zone = -7.0 hours
  

  Surface conditions at time of sighting at Tucson International Airport (805 m):
  Temperature = 14 degrees Celsius
  Relative Humidity = 16 percent
  Sea Level Pressure = 1008 mb
  Significant thin cloud cover in eastern sky, with breaks

  Topocentric and local time values from “Accurate Times”:
  Moonrise (at sea level) = 04:32
  Sunrise (at sea level) = 05:29
  Time from new moon at 06:13 = 22 hr. 11 min.
  Moon lag time = 57 min.
  Relative Altitude = 11.3 degrees
  Elongation from sun = 14 degrees
  Crescent width = 30 arc seconds
  Illumination = 1.5 percent

  Crescent first observed through 8” SC telescope:
  Time = 05:32
  Altitude = 10.1 degrees

  Final observation with telescope:
  Time = 06:13
  Altitude = 18.4 degrees

  Observer(s): Jim Stamm
  E-mail Address: StammJim@gmail.com"
  

Monday 05 May 2008:

• Iran: Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "Seeing the crescent by naked eyes AND binoculars was tried, but it was not seen.The eastern horizon was cloudy."