International Astronomical Center

• Australia: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Afroz Ali said: "The crescent was not sighted in Australia. Therefore 1st Rabbi ut-Thani commences on 20th Friday." Mr. Afroz added that the sky was clear.

• Iran:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hasan Zakeri mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye. Mr. Zakeri added that the sky was hazy.

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "The Sky Near The Western Horizon Was hazy and Partly Cloudy." Mr. Marzani mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani said:
     Location: Esfahan, Iran (32:37N 51:35E)
     Time zone: +3.5
     Camera: Sony F-717
     

     Sunset: at 18:32:30 LT
     Crescent first observed through 15x80 binoculars:
     Time: 18:35 LT
     Moon Altitude: 15° 05' 35"
     Sun Altitude: -(0° 46' 49")
     Elongation: 15° 53' 49"
     Relative Azimuth: 0° 52' 12"
     Phase: 2.16%
     Width: 0.64m
     Arc Length: 105° (8-4.5)

     Crescent first observed by naked eyes:
     Time: 18:50 LT
     Moon Altitude: 12° 10' 48"
     Sun Altitude: -(3° 50' 14")
     Elongation: 16° 01' 42"
     Relative Azimuth: 0° 35' 49"
     Phase: 2.20%
     Width: 0.65m
     

     Observer & photographer: Alireza Mehani

     
     By Alireza Mehrani on Wednesday 18 April 2007.

• UAE: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Odeh said: "I observed the crescent from my home in Abu-Dhabi, since the weather was hazy seeing the crescent was much more difficult than expected, I can't confirm that I saw the crescent by naked eye, but it was very clear in my 7X50 binocular. Whereas my wife was able to see it by naked eye with difficulty."

  Click on the photo for Larger View
  
  The Crescent near Etisalt Tower in Abu-Dhabi
  By Moh'd Odeh on Wednesday 18 April 2007
  Canon S3IS, 12X Magnification.

• Kuwait: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hussain Khushaish said: "I could sight the crescent in the following order sun disk disappeared at 18:09 (8 minutes before local sunset), local sunset 18:17, first seen with binocular at 18:18, first seen with naked eyes at 18:34, last seen with naked eyes at 19:06 (32 minutes before local moonset), last seen with bincular at 19:14 (24 minutes before local moonset), moonset at 19:38. Today the weather was less hazy than yesterday."

  Click on the photo for Larger View
  
  The Crescent from Kuwait on Wednesday 18 April 2007.

• Saudi: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Hani Dalee said: "It was a really nice and deserved a telescopic photo." Mr. Dalee mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

• Algeria: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Bankih Kacem said: "It was hazy and the Rabi Thani 1428 crescent was seen with difficulty from Merkiche station by binoculars 20x60 and naked eye. Two persons were present in this observation."

• South Africa: Not Seen-Hazy: ICOP member Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim mentioned that the crescent was not seen by naked eye or by binoculars, and the weather was hazy.

• Nigeria:

  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Usman Dukku mentioned that it was totally cloudy.

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammed Ya'sin Qamardeen said: "The new Hilal of Rabiul Thanni was sigthed tonight here in Lagos and we asked for Allah Rahma and forgiveness in this new month." Mr. Qamardeen added that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye and the weather was superb.

• Germany: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann said: "Only one hour before sunset, the sky was still completely covered. Fortunately, it quickly cleared up, so that at the time of sunset only small and thin clouds remained, and the crescent could be found easily by binoculars and by naked eyes only minutes later. Later the sky cleared up completely, and the crescent remained clearly visible until it sank behind the horizon one and a half hour later."

• UK:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti from Oxford said: "Positive sighting in Oxford. The Rabi' al-Akhir crescent was sighted at the end of the 29th day of Rabi' al-Awwal (Wednesday, 18 April 2007). The horizon was clear and the orientation of the crescent was 150 degrees at 20:54. This positive sighting means that the first day of Rabi' al-Akhir in the UK is tomorrow, Thursday, the 19th of April."

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Maqsood Fazel said: "The new crescent of Rabbi-Al-Thani was easily seen in very clear skies at 8:45pm local time on 18 April in Manchester, UK aprrox 25 minutes after Magrib...(as per predictions using Accurate Times and Mooncalc). The age of the crescent was about 32 hours."

• USA:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Milad Ali Ershaghi from (Alta Loma, CA) said: "I attempted a sighting of the new crescent moon just after 8:15 PM PDT, and alhamdulillah I was blessed to see it. The lower-most portion of the moon appeared illumined, about one finger-span above my direct line of vision, and the sky was clear, and it was a very beautiful sight, masha'Allah. The moon was positioned at about 270 degrees relative to magnetic north, or about 78 degrees to the west of true north."

  2. Seen: Dr. Youssef Ismail from (San Jose, CA) said: "I did see the new moon for Rab'i Ath-Thaani on the evening of April 18th, Wednesday. I did not see it the day before. I was in my typical location, Windy Hill Open Space preserve parking lot. The moon was at an azimuth of 267 degrees Magnetic, and at an altitude of 4 hand spans above the horizon. There were some clouds near the horizon, but otherwise clear. The moon was first seen at 7:37 pm Pacific DST, yes before sunset. The limbs of the moon were at 4 and 8 o'clock on the clock dial."

• Guyana: Seen: ICOP member Dr. Muhammad Hafiz said: "Myself and the members of Rose Hall Town Masjid and Islamic Center tried to observe the Hilaal after sunset on Wednesday, 18th April, 2007 in Guyana. The Hilaal was easily seen at 6:25 PM (Guyana Time)."

Sighting the OLD crescent on (Monday 16 April 2007) and on (Tuesday 17 April 2007) 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.

Monday 16 April 2007

Tuesday 17 April 2007