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International Astronomical Center

ICOP

Visibility of Jumadal Awwal Crescent
(1430 AH)


Last Updated 28 April 2009
In This Page:-

When to Observe Jumadal Awwal Waxing (NEW) Crescent ?

The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Saturday 25 April 2009) at 03:23 UT.

Sighting the new crescent on (Saturday 25 April 2009) and (Sunday 26 April 2009) is shown in the below graphs using the program Accurate Times by Mohammad Odeh according to Odeh criterion. Where:-

Saturday 25 April 2009

Sunday 26 April 2009

According to the Universal Hejric Calendar (UHC), which is based on the calculated crescent visibility, the start of this month in the Eastern Region will be on Sunday 26 April 2009 and in the Western Region will be on Sunday 26 April 2009.

- Results of seeing the crescent, and the first day of the month in different countries will be added here Inshalla as we receive the reports from ICOP's members. If you wish to be a member in ICOP, or to know more about it, kindly click here.

Jumadal Awwal Waxing (NEW) Crescent Observation Results

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent -after sunset- was on Saturday 25 April 2009 from UK by ICOP member Mr. Maqsood Fazel, the crescent was also seen on this day from USA.

Saturday 25 April 2009:

  • Iran:
    1. Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram mentioned that he was not able to see the crescent from Saravn by binoculars and the sky was partly cloudy. Abdrazzaq Dehwari and Salman Aram joined the observation as well.

    2. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Hossein Janghorbani said:
      - From: The Astronomy and Geophysics Centre Of Shahreza & Women Astronomy and Geography Society of Isfahan Province
      - Reporter: Hossein Janghorbani, manager of the center
      - We saw the new moon crescent on Saturday 25 April 2009 (05/2/1388 according to Iran calendar), in a region located in the east of Shahreza with these geographic coordinates:
      • Lat: 32° N
      • Lon: 51° 52' E
      • Ele: 1825 m
      • Time Zone: +3.5
      - The Astronomy & Geophysics center of Shahreza` observers divided in two groups to see crescent.
      - Both of them, first group at Damzad field ( in geographical coordinates Lat: 32° N Lon: 51° 52' E Ele: 1825 m) and other in 40 km to Shahreza-Semirom road ( in geographical coordinates Lat: 31° 38' N Lon: 51° 42' E Ele: 2581 m) didn`t observe the crescent, because of unsuitable atmospheric conditions (It was cloudy).
      Participants` names of both program included :
      1. Abuzar Derakhshan
2. Sayed Mohsen Emrani
3. Meysam Safian
4. Behnam Rezaee
5. Reza Ensandoost
6. Mohammad Javad Nikeghbal
7. Mehrdad Kazemi
8. Reza Janghorbani

9. Ali Janghorbani
10. Hossein Janghorbani
11. Safura Ahmadi
12. Elham Moeeni
13. Samaneh Hatam
14. Shohreh Safian
15. Hakimeh Rezaee
16. Hakimeh Ghermezi

17. Fatemeh Ahari
18. Maliheh Shirpoor
19. Arghavan Mahmoodi
20. Zeynab Mohseni
21. Mahsa Kazemi
22. Zahra Sharifi
23. Zahra Fallahi
24.Marzyyeh Fallahi

25. Elham Foroodi


  • Oman: Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Mohammed Al-Bussaidi said: "We tried hard to spot the crescent Moon but due to haze, western clouds, and dust we could not see the crescent Moon."

  • Saudi:
    1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The crescent was 5.5 degrees above horizon, but the weather was not helping. About 20 persons in the site but none of them could see the crescent."

    2. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "Seeing the crescent by binoculars was tried, but it was not seen in Madineh Monawarah."

  • Kuwait: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "In Kuwait on Saturday 25 Apr 2009 I could not see the crescent even with 20*60 binocular. The western horizon was cloudy and the crescent charactrestics were not enough to see the crescent."

  • Bahrain: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. A.Hameed Ali Haji said: "Myself and all of the members of WALIALASER GROUP tried to see the new crescent but the horizon was hazy and cloudy."

  • Qatar: Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Jaouad Alkhaliki mentioned that he could not see the crescent by naked eye, and the sky was partly cloudy.

  • Algeria: Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Houcine Chikh Aissa said: "(24) persons were present in N'tissa station with three binoculars. (7*50)/(7*50)/(15*50) The new crescent of Jumadal Awwal 1430 was not seen by naked eyes and by a binocular, the Sky Near The Western Horizon was Partly Cloudy."

  • Senegal: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Ibrahima Thierno Lo said: "Seeing the crescent by naked eyes was tried, but it was not seen. The Sky Near The western Horizon was hazy."

  • UK:
    1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Abdurrashid Ayoubi from Kettering said: "Not seen. The western horizon was cloudy. Today (Saturday) was 29th Rabee'II in UK. We will therefore complete 30 days InshaAllah according to Sunnah if not seen by other UK members."

    2. Not Seen/Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Baig from London said: "Although I have just found out that crescent was seen in Manchester through binoculars but I have not been able to see it in Slough near London. The visibility was reasonably good but no luck."

    3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Maqsood Fazel said: "Alhamdulillah, I am very pleased to inform you that I just saw a 17 hour crescent of Jumad al-awal here in Manchester. The crescent was seen ONLY through binoculars (Celestron 15x70) at 21:05 to 21:10, after that I could not see it even through the binocs. I was unable to see it with my naked eyes. My daughter, Aisha was also able to see it thru binocs. In fact we almost gave up as we first tried to see it from 20:50 onwards. it was partly cloudy with a faint pink/red colour of the local sky. The crescent shape was sitting almost on its back (thickest part of the crescent being almost horizontal) with the cusps on either side pointing more or less upwards - but extremely thin."

    4. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Qamar Uddin said: "This is a combined report from ICOUK members from different parts of UK. On Saturday 25 April 2009 many places in UK have tried to sight one of the youngest crescent moon (Hilal) that was on UK horizon, but no naked-eye sighting report was received in spite of clear sky conditions in many places and extensive publicity efforts, including advertising on three satellite TV channels (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvCcKzEaP-c). Therefore, the Ulama (including Wifaq and Batley) have decided that the month of Rabi ul-Thani 1430 AH will complete 30 days and the month of Jumada Al-Awwal (or Jumada Al-Ula) 1430 AH will start from Monday 27 April 2009, Insha-Allah. Please see below a list of observer names for naked-eye sighing reports we have received to date. May Allah rewards them all for reviving the Sunnah of this months Hilal sighting in UK.
      • South London (Negative/Clear): Shaykh Sulayman Gani from Tooting Islamic Centre (plus ~8 other observers).
      • East London (Negative/ Clear): Maulana Shoyaib Nurgat and Br Abdul Aziz from Masjid-e-Umar, Walthamstow (plus 4 others: Hafez Kayat, Br Abdus Salam, Br Tasneem Raje and Br Iqbal Mehtar).
      • High Wycombe (Negative/Clear): Maulana Amir Aziz (plus many others)
      • Slough (Negative/Clear): Mohammed Baig
      • Birmingham (Negative/Cloudy): Ziaur Rahman from Handsworth Park
      • Preston (Negative/Clear): Maulana Farook Kazi
      • Bradford (Negative/Clear): Mufti Muhammad Ashfaq (plus 4 observers).
      • Batley (Negative/Clear): Mufti Yusuf Sacha (and many other scholars).
      • Edinburgh (Negative/Cloudy): Wahid Irshad from Napier University Campus
      • York (Negative/Clear): Qamar Uddin, Martin Dawson, Paul Buglass, Glen Berry, Philip Jennings and few other members of York Astronomical Society at Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire, 1000 ft above sea level).
      Please note that the attached Hilal photo was taken with a Nikon D40 DSLR camera with a telescopic zoom lens (28 - 300 mm) after identifying it with a telescope (and only seen by one Muslim and a few other non-Muslims). Hence, it does not fulfil the Shariah requirement of naked-eye sighting or the Fiqh (Jurisprudence) condition of Jamm-e-Gafir for clear sky conditions."

  • Germany:
    1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "We drove 400km but could not escape the clouds well enough to site the very thin crescent. The horizon had layers of haze and clouds, which prevented the sighting, despite using telecopes and binoculars. Good food afterwards offered some compensation."

    2. Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann said: "Although the sky was clear or only slightly hazy overhead, a thick layer of clouds on the western horizon completely eradicated any chance of seeing the thin crescent."

    3. Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Kadir Yucel said: "Together with my wife we were not able to sight the crescent because of clouds in the western horizon."

  • Norway: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Milad Ali Ershaghi said: "I tried to sight the moon this evening (Saturday 25 April 2009) from 10:13pm until 10:33pm in Holmenkollen, a relatively high point near the city of Oslo, Norway - with coordinates of 59.9604 N latitude and 10.6668 E longitude and an altitude of 359.5 meters. Local sunset time was 8:58pm and moonset time was 10:33pm. There were dark clouds overhanging the horizon - and I was unable to see the new crescent moon."

  • USA:
    1. Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Javad Torabinejad from (Blacksburg, VA) said: "The western horizon was partly cloudy. We arrived at the sighting location prior to the sunset (sunset, 8:05) and soon after the sun disappeared behind the clouds. Knowing the location of the moon, at this time, I started searching for the crescent. It was at 8:14, when I saw the crescent, followed by sighting by my daughter and wife. At 8:20, my daughter and I sighted the very thin crescent by naked eye. The moon then disappeared behind the clouds and later reappeared for a short time in an opening for a few minutes and then gone behind the clouds at 8:33."

    2. Seen: ICOP member, Dr. Hussain Dashti said: "25-4-09 I was able to see the crescent by naked eyes from Atlanta, Georgia. You might be wondering why am I in Atlanta as I have sent my report regarding the old crescent from Gainesville, Florida on the 24th of April 2009; it is because I was going back home to Kuwait and my connection was from Atlanta. I have sighted the crescent from the airport and it was a bit difficult with all the flashing lights and airplanes!!! The crescent topocentric calculations were as follows:
      - Sunset: 20:17 LT
      - Moonset: 21:20 LT
      - T. Moon Age: +20H 00M
      - Moon Lag Time: +01H 03M
      - T. Relative Altitude: +11°:29':48"
      - T. Relative Azimuth: +01°:36':23
      - T. Moon Altitude: +10°:39':45"
      - T. Elongation: +11°:36':26"
      - First seen with binocular 8:26
      - First seen with naked eyes 8:45
      - Last seen with naked eyes 8:52 (it faded behind the clouds and I didn’t wait to see it last by the binocular, as I had to catch my flight.)

  • Trinidad and Tobago: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Kahiam Hosein said: "Our Moon Committes looked for the crescent after Maghrib on Saturday 25th Arpril 09. The moon was NOT SIGHTED in Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and Guyana. Therefore the month of Rabiiuth Thaani 1430 AH completed 30 days. The moon was CLEARLY SEEN after Maghrib of Sunday 26th April 09."

    Sunday 26 April 2009:

    • Indonesia: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member, Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi said: "The New Crescent of Jumadal Ulaa 1430 AH, was NOT SEEN from my location Bendo-Ketitang-Juwiring-Klaten - Central Java - Indonesia : Lat = -7°40'12.77", Long= 110°44'13.15", Zone =GMT+7, Elev = 100 m."

    • Malaysia: Seen: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "Alhamdulillah the hilal was seen from my open observatory in Melaka. The hilal was seen by naked eyes, binocular and telescopes. The western sky was partly cloudy. Five minutes after sunset my son and I saw the hilal followed by my wife and daughter, the hilal was at altitude 12 degrees from horizon. The Hilal was not seen from Al-Khawarizmi observatory on 25 April 2009."

    • Bangladesh: Seen: ICOP memeber Mr. ABM Hassan said: "The crescent was sighted very clearly. The sky was clear. Ruiati Hilal Majlis and Islamic Foundation both have announced the first date of Jumadal Ula from 27 April, Monday."

    • India: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammed Mohsin Khan said: "Today Sunday 26 April 2009 / 29 Rabi-ul-Aakhar 1430 in India. Here in Mumbai Sunset was at 06:58 pm IST and Moonset was at 08:24 pm IST. so there was 1 hr and 26 mins difference and Sky was clear hence Crescent has been sighted in Mumbai and in Most Parts of India. Official Moon-Sighting Committee of Mumbai have officially announced that 1st Jamadil Oola 1430 will fall on Monday 27 April 2009."

    • Pakistan: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Sultan Alam said: "Easily seen. Today i.e. on Sunday 26 April 2009 (29 Rabee-uth-Thani 1430) On my request many hundred members and friends of our institute “Jamia-tur-Rasheed” easily sighted the moon at many places in 3 provinces of Pakistan i.e. in Baluchistan, Sindh & Punjab. As it was fully cloudy in NWFP hence not to speak of the crescent moon, the sun was invisible there. Note 1: Chairman of central official moon-sighting committee of Pakistan "Mufti Munee-bur-Rahman" told me on my mobile phone that after receiving the positive reports of moon sighting, he officially announced that Monday 27 April 2009 is the 1st Jumadal-oola. Note 2: After some days, inshaallah, a detailed report of this observation in Urdu will be available at www.esnips.com/web/moonnewsofjamiaturrasheed"

    • Iran: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said:
      Location: Esfahan, Iran (32° 37' N 51° 35' E, 1500 meters from sea level)
      Time zone: +4.5
      Observer & Photographer: Alireza Mehrani

      Topocentric and local time values from "Moon Calculator" (Refrac off):
      Time: 20:20 LT (15:50 UT)
      Moon Alt: 11° 17' 46"
      Sun Alt: -(8° 289' 48")
      Elongation: 19° 50' 14"
      Moon width: 0.97'
      Moon Age: 36h 28m after conjunction

      Photography information:
      Time: 20:20 LT
      Camera: Sony DSC H-9
      Exposure Time: 3 sec
      Focal Length: 78 mm
      F-Number: F/4.5
      ISO Speed: ISO-80

    • UAE: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Odeh said: "The crescent was easily visible by naked eye."

    • Saudi:
      1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The western horizon was cloudy, but I could see the crescent (which was about 20 degrees above horizon) after about 20 minutes of the sunset."

      2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Bander Albotehy said: "The cresent was seen inside the city. Although there was some dust in the horizon, I was able to see the cresent by binocular first then by naked eyes."

    • Tanzania: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Zaffar Sheriff said: "Heavy clouds, not seen. Confirmations received from Mombasa and Antananarivo."

    • Nigeria:
      1. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammed Ya'sin Qamardeen said: "It was cloudy here at Mangoro, Ikeja Lagos today Sunday 26 of April, hence new hilal of Jumadal Awwal is not visible."

      2. Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. AbdulRasaq Ishola Ikorodu said: "I and my Colleque Imam Monsuru Majolagbe tried the sighting in 2 differnt location but it was not seen due to cloudness. any way happy jumadal-oolah 1430"

    • South Africa: Not Seen: ICOP member Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim said: "The western horizon was covered by reddish haze up to an altitude of 5 degrees. The combination of the lunar percentage illumination (3.23%) and its magnitude (6.01) rendered visibility easy in the haze. The atmospheric conditions gave us a very large beautiful yellow thin crescent with horns situated at 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock. The Hilaal was first sighted at 18h38 LT. Observed sunset was at 18h14 LT."

    • Hungary: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mustafa Al-Majari mentioned that the crescent was seen by naked eye.

    • UK: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Suliman Gani from London said: "The 8 of us attempted sighting the previous day but the hilal was not seen. Today, Sunday 26 April 22 of us observed the hilal with the naked eye very easily above the clouds."

    • Sweden: Seen: Mr. Muhammad Shafiur Rahman Chowdury said: "Alhamdulillah,... We the member of Anjumane Al Baiyinaat, Sweden, have seen the crescent moon of the new coming Arabic month Jamadi-Al-Awwal 1430 Hijri this evening 26th April 2009 Sunday from Stockholm by bare eyes very clearly. This make the history of moonsighting from sweden. Last 5/6 months we did not sight the crescent moon because of bad weather and snow fall. Generally the crescent moon is not sighted from the nothern pollar region countries like Sweden. But in this month we have succeed. The Anjumane Al Baiyinaat, Sweden have announced that the 1st day of the new Arabic month "Jamadi-Al-Awwal 1430 Hijri" will be started from 27th April 2009 Monday after completing the "Rabius Sani 1430 Hijri" by counting 29 days in 26th April 2009 Sunday. Details report are given in bellow:-
      • Sighting of the Crescent Moon: Very clearly seen by bare eyes
      • Place of Sighting: Varby Gard, Stockholm, Sweden (Near subway station)
      • Time of Sighting: After Magrib Prayer (21:15-21:50)
      • Condition of the sky: Slight cloudy
      • Persons:
        1. Muhammad shafiur Rahman Chowdury,
        2. Muhammad Nasiruddin Ahmad Shohel,
        3. Muhammad Fakhrul Islam,
        4. Muhammad Sorwarul Haq Guddu and
        5. Muhammad Romel

    The OFFICIAL First Day in Different Countries

    Sunday 26 April 2009:

    1. Malaysia
    2. Oman
    3. Saudi
    4. UAE
    5. Kuwait
    6. Bahrian
    7. Qatar
    8. Jordan
    9. Egypt
    10. Algeria

    Monday 27 April 2009:

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

    When to Observe Rabee Thani Waning (OLD) Crescent ?

    The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Saturday 25 April 2009) at 03:23 UT.

    Sighting the OLD crescent on (Saturday 25 April 2009) and on (Friday 24 April 2009) is shown in the below graphs using the program Accurate Times by Mohammad Odeh according to Odeh criterion. Where:-

    • It is impossible to see the OLD crescent from the areas located under the red color. Because either the Moon on this day rises after the Sunrise and/or the topocentric conjunction occurs before the Sunrise.
    • The crescent is expected to be seen by optical aid only from the areas located under the blue color.
    • The crescent is expected to be seen by optical aid from the areas located under the magenta color.. In these areas the crescent could be seen by naked eye if the atmospheric conditions are superb and the observer is experienced.
    • The crescent is expected to be easily visible by naked eye from the areas located under the green color.
    • The crescent can not be seen from uncolored areas, even though the Moon rises in these locations before the Sunrise and the topocentric conjunction occurs after the Sunrise, but the Moon is not sufficiently illuminated in order to be seen as crescent even by optical aid.
    • Kindly notice that the below graph shows the possibility of seeing the crescent from areas between 60 degrees north of Equator down to 60 degrees south of Equator.

    Saturday 25 April 2009

    Friday 24 April 2009

    Rabee Thani Waning (OLD) Crescent Observation Results

    Friday 24 April 2009:

    • Indonesia: Seen: ICOP member, Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi said: "The Old Crescent of Rabiul Tsani 1430 AH, was SEEN from my location Bendo-Ketitang-Juwiring-Klaten - Central Java - Indonesia : Lat = -7°40'12.77", Long= 110°44'13.15", Zone =GMT+7, Elev = 100 m."

    • Malaysia:
      1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Baharrudin Zainal said: "On 24 April 2009 (Friday, the 29 hours old moon crescent was seen from our place (UDM Observatory, Terengganu, MALAYSIA). The crescent firstly seen by telescope and binocular, before using naked eye. Herewith,I enclosed the photo of the crescent which taken by Mr Ahmad Taufan, using Sony compact camera at Meade LX 10" eyepiece view."

      2. Seen: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "The crescent was seen from my open observatory after I have performed subuh prayer."

    • Tanzania: Not Seen/Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Fuad Bafana said: "Not Seen! Partly Cloudy! From Ilala area of Dar es Salaam!"

    • Germany: Not Seen/Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "Thick fog at a temperature of only 1.5° made any sighting impossible."
    • USA: Seen: ICOP member, Dr. Hussain Dashti said: "Today, April the 24th 2009, I was able to sight the old crescent from Gainesville, Florida with my 10X50 binocular only. I was able to see it for 14 minutes. It was first sighted at 6:23 am and last seen at 6:37 am. The old moon's topocentric calculations were as follows:
      - Moorise: 06:11 LT
      - Sunrise: 06:53 LT
      - T. Moon Age: -17H 21M
      - Moon Lag Time: +00H 42M
      - T. Moon Altitude: +07°:44':18"
      - T. Relative Altitude: +08°:34':21"
      - T. Relative Azimuth: +03°:47':26"
      - T. Elongation: +09°:22':08"
      - T. Crescent Width: +00°:00':13"
      - T. Illumination: 00.67 % "

    By Moh'd Odeh. Copyright © 1998-2009 Islamic Crescents' Observation Project (ICOP), All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission. For more information     Kindly send E-mail

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