International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent -after sunset- was on Saturday 19 September 2009 from Namibia by ICOP Member Mr. Mr. Ahmed Mohamed.

Saturday 19 September 2009:

• Brunei Darussalam: Not seen: Mr. Hazarry Haji Ali Ahmad said that the weather in that afternoon was very cloudy and that Brunei Darussalam will celebrate Eid on the 21st September after the new moon crescent was not sighted

• Indonesia:
  1. Not seen: Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi used telescope. The weather was partly cloudy and the horizon hazy

  2. Not seen: Mr. Bambang Eko used telescop. It was totally cloudy and the horizon hazy.
  3. Not seen: Mr. Susiknan Azhari. Telescope was used but weather was partly cloudy and the horizon hazy
  4. Not seen: Mr. Nular Bary said: "I went to my normal observation point to try and sight the Hilal of Shawwaal the westen sky was very clear but couldn't see the New Moon, our sun set was at 6.09 Pm.I observed from 6.19 to 6.50 Pm"

• Malaysia:
  1. Not seen: Mr. Abdul Majid Abdul Wahid said: "The hilal was not seen because of heavy cloud. Eid in Malaysia was announce to be on Sunday 20/09/2009"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "the hilal sighting committe and muslim communities gathered here to observed the hilal but the hilal was not seen. The western sky was partly cloudy and the sunset was seen at west horizon. The hilal was not seen even through the, Meade 8” LX200, Takahasi 60mm and Theodolite . The 1st Shawal 1430 begins on Sunday, September 20, 2009, was officially announced by the authority through the radio and TV channels"

• India:
  1. Not seen: Mr. Mohammed Mohsin Khan said: "Here in Mumbai Sunset was at 06:38 pm LT and Moonset was at 06:52 pm LT . So there was only 14 mins difference . It was certain that the crescent would not be sighted anywhere in India today . I tried to sight the moon due to the 29th day according to the Ummul-Qura calendar but Shawwaal crescent has not been sighted in India"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Mohamed Amin said: "In Mangalore India the climate was very hazy and CLOUDY and even sky was not seen only Clouds"

• Pakistan: Not seen: Mr. Alam Sultan said: "Today ( Saturday, September 19, 2009 = 28 Ramadhan 1430), On my request nearly one to two hundred persons (members of the moon-sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" + my friends + their companions) tried to sight the moon at nearly 25 places all over Pakistan but the moon could not be sighted, as it was expected tonight. Weather was fully clear at all places except in Karachi and Aasiabad. They tried to sight at these places : Mardan, Malakand, Swabi, Bannu, Mansehra (2 places), Balakot, Deer, Battal, Mengora,? Karachi (5 places), Ghotki, Jehlam, Tando-Ghulam-Ali, Faisalabad, Kehror-Pakka, Aasiabad, Turbat, Tando-Allah-yar, Jhang, Islamabad. Note : Provincial government of Sarhad (a province of Pakistan) has declared that tomorrow Sunday is Eid in Province Sarhad. It is to be noted here that Sunday is 29th Ramadhan in the rest of Pakistan "

• Iran:
  1. Seen: Mr. Alireza Mehrani said: "As it has been foreseen and expected before, the crescent of Shawal 1430 has been observed by 6 Iranian experienced observers on Saturday 19 Sept. by using telescope. Because of the rainy and cloudy weather in the northern part of Iran, other groups which were in this area were not able to observe the crescent. I would like to emphasize that this observation was direct and it was not image-processing. Data: September 19, 2009 Location: 30:52 N 51:26 E Observers: Mr. Mohsen Sharifi, Mr. Fazli, Mr. Esfandi, Mr. Haji Ahmadi, Mr. Sepehri Tools: Meade 14" telescope Time: 18:18 LT (13:48 UT) Moon Alt: 10.324° Sun Alt: 9.232° Elongation: 11.472° Moon phase: 1.02% Moon width: 0.32 m Moon Age: 19 h 04m after conjunction Sincerely, Alireza Mehrani " Note from ICOP: This observation was before sunset
  2. Not seen: Mr. Nima Mosayebi. Weather was totally cloudy and hazy

     Because of the rainy and cloudy weather in the northern part of Iran, other groups which were in this area were not able to observe the crescent. I would like to emphasize that this observation was direct and it was not image-processing "

  3. Seen: Mr. Hossein Janghorbani said: "Shahreza astronomy centre and astronomy- geographic association of Isfahan province women according to request of seeing army staff of leader office of Iran and calendar council of geophysics institute of Tehran university settled in Damzad field to see critical Shaval crescent moon on Saturday afternoon , Shahrivar 28th 1388. However, Mr Ali , Hossein and Reza Janghorbani settled in their house roof in Shahreza() at 4 a.m with a Meade telescope( 8 inches , reflexion-nioton) in LXD75 model , that equipped 26 mm lenz...Ali Janghorbani adjusted the telescope on Mars instead of Venus by Go to system since 13 p.m . The telescope adjusted on moon , while this planet was seen so weak. To prevent additional lights coming eyes during seeing, a piece of black cloth (large veil) placed on telescope lenz and a dark space caused. However, the crescent moon was not seen , and Mr Ali Janghorbani with special concentration was looking moon by telescope . Eventually he stated that has seen the crescent moon at 14:12 p.m . He immediately adjusted the telescope on Venus and again on moon to sure about seeing crescent and saw it hardly . Then Mr hossein Janghorbani settled in position and tried to see , while a piece of cloud covered moon and sun. Again Mr Ali hardly saw crescent moon at 14:40 p.m for 45 s , because dust in the air getting thick and thin successively and then he said that was not seeing the moon due to thick dust. In this moment Mr Hossein replaced Mr Ali , because he was so tired. We met difficult in seeing due to moving , getting thick and thin continuously cloud spots and blowing wind . The weather became better soon at 14:52 p.m and in the position of moon and sun was not seen dust. Of course wind blowing stopped a few minutes later . In the same time Mr Hossein stated that seeing crescent moon so hard for 50 s continuously. The same time wind blew and caused vibration over telescope and crescent moon disappeared. Mr Ali saw crescent for 2 min at 15:18 p.m again and Mr Hossein for 1 min at 15:20. It was cloudy then and seeing prgramm stopped because moon and sun got hidden. Sirs , Ali and Hossein Janghorbani called on Mr Alireza BojMehrani engineer, who is the member of seeing army staff of leader office of Iran scientific committee, and stated their surely 85% and 90% observations , respectively" Crescet moon specifications in seen times
     

     12 :14    by Ali Janghorbani
     899/196	Moon Azi
     851/49	Moon Alt
     853/9	Elongation
     179/13-	Rel Azi
     % 68/0	Moon Phase
     24/0	Width
     14 h 57 m	Moon Age
     
     40 : 14    by Ali Janghorbani
     888/209	Moon Azi
     554/46	Moon Alt
     080/10	Elongation
     867/13 -	Rel Azi
     %  73 /0	Moon Phase
     25/0	Width
     15 h 25 m	Moon Age
     
     15:1 by Hossein Janghorbani
     257/216	Moon Azi
     096/44	Moon Alt
     206/10	Elongation
     800/13-	Rel Azi
     % 75/0	Moon Phase
     26/0	Width
     15 h 46 m	Moon Age
     
     18 :15     by Ali Janghorbani
     982/220	Moon Azi
     834/41	Moon Alt
     309/10	Elongation
     615/13-	Rel Azi
     % 77/0	Moon Phase
     26/0	Width
     16 h 3 m	Moon Age
     
     20 : 15   by Hossein Janghorbani
     514/221	Moon Azi
     553/41	Moon Alt
     321/10	Elongation
     588/13-	Rel Azi 
     % 78/0	Moon Phase 
     26/0	Width 
     16 h 5 m 	Moon Age
     
     

• Sri Lanka: Not seen: Mr. Nular Bary said: "I went to my normal observation point to try and sight the Hilal of Shawwaal the westen sky was very clear but couldn't see the New Moon, our sun set was at 6.09 Pm.I observed from 6.19 to 6.50 Pm.Neither reported seen from any where in the Island, hence Sri Lanka Jamiathululama declared to complete the month of Ramadan 30 days and celebrate Eid (1st of Shawwaal) on Monday the 21st.of September 2009 "Inshallah""

• Namibia : Seen: Mr. Ahmed Mohamed said: "Moon was sighted in Windhoek Namibia at about 19:25"

• Tanzania : Not Seen: Mr. Zaffar Sheriff said: "slight haze and little cloud about 10deg above the horizon and thick cloud sitting on real horizon prevented us 25 people to witness the 8deg crescent"

• Kenya : Not Seen: Mr. Mahmood Essa said: "It was not possible to observe the new crecent here in mombasa, kenya owing to cloudy conditions"

• Senegal : Not Seen: Mr. Ibrahima Thierno LO said: "Seeing the crescent by naked eyes was tried by our group, but it was not seen. The western horizon was cloudy in Dakar. The National Committee have accepted the claim of ordinary public of a sighting from some localities and announced Eid, Sunday 20 September 2009"

• Trinidad and Tobago :
  1. Not Seen: Mr. Kahiam Hosein said: "The following are reports received locally and regionally: SIGHTING WAS ACCEPTED FROM GUYANA. Trinidad – The moon was not sighted. The sky was cloudy. Tobago- The moon was not sighted. The sky was cloudy Barbados - The moon was not sighted. The sky fairly clear. Grenada – The moon was not sighted. The sky was cloudy Guyana - Sighting was confirmed.
  2. Not seen: Mr. Abdurrahman ali. Weather was partly cloudy and hazy.
  "

• Nigeria :
  1. Not Seen: Sheik. Abdul-Rasaq Abdul-Azeez said: "I and my colleque Ustaz Monsuru Majolagbe Tried seach the crescent of shawwal on 19-09-09 infront of Shamsudeen mosque Ojogbe Area of Ikorodu along with us Ustaz Ishaq Hussein (Abu-Bushra) but the moon was not seen but Our member called me from Bauchi,Maiduguri,Kaduna report the same negative"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Simwal Jibril tried Binocular but couldn't see the cresent, weather was cloudy.
  3. Not seen: Mr. Qamardeen Yaskin Muhammad said: "The western sky remain totally overcast hence no Hilal of shawwal was visible at this part of world"
  4. Not seen: Mr. Majolagbe Monsur said: "I and my colleague shaekh abd azeez ishola including ustas ishaq husaen began sighting by 6:44pm though, we have been at the sighting ground around 6:20 pm yuet all our efforts proved abortive"
  5. Not seen: Mr. Mutoha Arkanuddin said: "The crescent not seen because the Western horizon sky was cloudy"
  6. Not seen: Mr. Usman Dukku said: "I attempted sighting the crescent, in a group of 29, in the outskirts of Bauchi, but we did not see it. It was so cloudy that even the sun could not be seen thirty mimutes before sunset. However, later in the evening, the President General of the Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs announces that the moon was sighted in a few locations in the northern part of the country and, therefore, Sunday 20th September 2009 would be Eid day"

• South Africa : Seen: Dr. Abdurrazak Ebrahim said: "Crescent was first seen by naked-eye at LT 19h05 until it disappeared into a bank of haze at 19h14"

• Bahrain : Not seen: Mr. A.Hameed Haji said: "Waliaser group tried to observe the new crescent,but the sky was cloudy and Hazy"

• Oman :
  1. Not-Seen: Mr. Mohammed Al-Bussaidi said: "The weather was excellent as the there was no clouds, dust, or wind. But we could not sight the crescent moon". The instrument used was telescope

  2. Not-Seen: Mr. Saleh Said Hamed Al-Shidhani said: "several teams of Astronomers went to observe the thin crescent from different locations, both land and high mountians (2000m, 3000 m above see level) Some places (including the heighest Jabal Shams) were cloudy. Other places the sky was very clear but still it was not seen even with a telescope. "

• Saudia Arabia :
  1. Not seen: Mr. Saleh Alsaab said: "the crescent was only 1.8 degree above horizon ". instrument used was telescope

  2. Not seen: Mr. Abdul Aziz Raje said: "Three of us from UK went to Saudi Arabia for Umarah this Ramadhan and decided to join the Makkah Hilal Committee to sight the Shawwal Hilal from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Observatory in Shimaysi (on a small hill just outside Makkah, which was about 600m above sea level). There were fifteen observers in total (including three of us from UK). Unfortunately, about 20 minutes after sunset the western horizon became very hazy and we were unable to sight the Hilal even with a telescope. Dr Abdullrahman H Maghrabi (a Research Professor in the Astronomy Dept at KACST) was our host and he reported negative sighting to the authorities by telephone while we were there"

• Libya: Not seen: Mr. Salem Sahid, the weather was partly cloudy

• Algeria: Not seen: Mr. Bankih Kacem said:"11 persons had tried to see this crescent, with naked eyes and (20x60 and 7x50) binoculars, but it was not observed. The western horizon was hazy"

• Spain:
  1. Not seen: Mr. Abdel Karim As-Saraqusti said: "Assalamu Alaykum, sighting was tried, but it's totally cloudy in the horizon, only a few clear zones but no moon was seen there, tried about 20 minutes before sunset"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Muhammad del Pozo. Weather was very hazy and totally cloudy.

• Norway: Not seen: Mr.Milad Ershaghi because the weather was totally cloudy

• United Kingdom:
  1. Not seen: Dr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti said: "A group of us attempted to perform the obligatory sighting of Shawwal after Iftar on Saturday 19 September (the 29th day of Ramadan in the UK). Although the horizon is clear, the crescent could not be sighted"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Suliman Gani. Weather was totally cloudy.
  3. Not seen: Mr. Qamar Uddin said: "This is a combined report from ICOUK members from different parts of UK. On Saturday 19 September 2009 many *hundreds* of Muslims in UK have tried to sight the crescent moon (Hilal) of Shawwal 1430 AH after sunset, but there were no positive naked eye sighting report received..."
  4. Not seen: Mr. Suliman Gani said: "Over a hundred (100) observers attempted to sight the hilal on 29 Ramadaan corresponding to Saturday 19 September 2009 in South London at the Tooting Islamic Centre. Hilal was not seen. It was totally cloudy. The observers were given some basic guidelines on moonsighting"

• Guyana: Not seen: Mr. Muhammad Hafiz. The weather was partly cloudy and hazy

• Ghana: Not seen: Mr. Abdul-Aziz Anyang said: "Yesterday, Saturday September 19th, 2009 the weather in Accra was very cloudy. One of our group members (Mohammed) in the Northern region of Ghana (Tamale) which is about 570km from Accra called me around sunset local time and said that though the weather condition is very very clear, they did not see the new crescent"

• USA:
  1. Not seen: Dr.Hussain Dashti said:"The Hilal was not seen from Gainesville, Florida. The sky was Cloudy. In addition, the crescent was difficult to sight from Florida anyways"

  2. Not seen: Mr. Javad Torabinejad said: "This evening (Saturday, September 19, 2009), I tried sighting the moon in Christiansburg, VA with no success. The western horizon was covered by clouds and thus I could not sight the moon"
  3. Seen: Mr. Mohib Dorrani said: "Both Imam Suleiman and Br. Abdul Basit first sighted the Hilal with binoculars and then were also able to sight the Hilal with unaided eyes"
  4. Not seen: Mr. Isa Alsup. The weather was clear but the horizon was hazy
  5. Not seen: Mr. Jaffer Dharamsi. Weather was cloudy and hazy
  6. Seen: Mr. Jim Stamm. Observed using 8" SC telescop. Mr. Jim said: "Hilaal was very difficult to find and to see, Four other observers were not able to focus the image out of the haze. Although the sky was clear in the direction of the Moon, there was much more water vapor in the western air than the 20% given above. The crescent was just a little bit more yellow than the reddish background, providing very little contrast. Even without the water vapor, I do not believe that the crescent could have been seen with the unaided eye anywhere in North America."
  7. Not seen: Dr. John Caldwell. The instrument used was binoculars. Weather was partly cloudy.

Sunday 20 September 2009:

• Australia:
  1. Seen: Mr. Idris Ellis said: "This was the second day of Shawal, at Isha; the crescent for the first day was sighted at Geraldton & Port Hedland in Western Australia". Observation was with naked eye

  2. Seen: Imam Afroz Ali said: "The crescent was claimed ot be sighted in three different locations in Western Australia, around the regions of Karatha/Port Hedland, Perth and Geraldton". instrument used was naked eye.

• Indonesia:
• Seen: Mr. Mutoha Arkanuddin said: "From the 2nd floor Mosque near my home, the crescent 1,8 days old seen with easy by naked eye after jamiah Maghrib prayer".

• Seen: Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi said: "The New Crescent of Syawwal 1430 AH was SEEN: 1. Date of Observation : Sunday, 20 September 2009 2. Status : SEEN (on 17:30 LT) 3. Location : Bendo-Ketitang-Juwiring-Klaten Indonesia Lattitude : 7° 41' S Longitude : 110° 44' E Time Zone : GMT+7 Elevation : 98 m 4. Sunset : 17:33 LT 5. Moonset : 18:45 LT 6. Moon alt @ Sunset : 18° 7. Observer & Fotografer: AR Sugeng Riyadi Begin................: Sunday, 20 September 2009 "

• India: Seen: Mr. Mohammed Mohsin Khan said: "Sunday 20 September 2009 / 29 Ramadaan 1430 in India. Here in Mumbai Sunset was at 06:37 p.m LT and Moonset was at 07:33 pm LT. So there was 56 mins difference, Sky was clear and Crescent has been sighted in Mumbai and in Most Parts of India. Official Moon-Sighting Committee have officially announced that Sunday 20 September 2009 was 29th Ramadaan 1430 and 1st Shawwaal 1430 will fall on Monday 21 September 2009. So Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on 21 September in India"

• Pakistan: Seen: Mr. Alam Sultan said: "On my request, Today (Sunday 20 September 2009 = 29 Ramadhan 1430 in Pakistan) many hundred persons (Members of the moon-sighting committees of our institute "JAMIA-TUR-RASHEED" + my friends + their companions) tried to sight the moon all over Pakistan and resultantly easily sighted the crescent at more than 25 places. As it was very cloudy in Karachi and some other places hence I and my other friends could not sight the moon in Karachi and some other places. At many places of Sarhad, the weather was clear but many observers could not sight the crescent, the reason may be non expertise of the observers and the low altitude of moon. It is also announced officially that tomorrow i.e. Monday is Eid in Pakistan.Note 1: Chairman of central official moon-sighting committee of Pakistan "Mufti Munee-bur-Rahman" especially praised the efforts of Jamia-tur-Rasheed in his officially announcement. Alhamdolillah. Note 2: After some days, inshaallah, a detailed report of this observation in Urdu will be available at www.esnips.com/web/moonnewsofjamiaturrasheed"

• Bangladesh: Seen: Mr. ABM Hassan said: "The crescent was seen on 20Th September,Sunday.Though The sky was partly cloudy but it did not make any hindrance to see the moon.Bangladesh will observe Eid-Ul-Fitr on Monday, 21 September"

• Nigeria:
  1. Seen: Mr. Abdul-Rasaq Abdul-Azeez said: "I and my Dear Friend Sheik Yunus Abdul-Salam along with other brothers sighted the Shawwal crescent on 20-09-09 arround Itumaja area of Ikorodu ,lagos"

  2. Seen: Imam Majolagbe Monsur said: "before Solatul magrib on sunday 21st sept 2009 \ 1st shawwal 1430 during preparation for the solat some one alerted me and showed me the fainted crescent on an extra bright background"

• Hungary: Not seen: Dr. M. Al-Majari. Used naked eye. Weather was clear.

• Switzerlad: Not seen: Mr. Safder Jaffer. Used binoculars. Weather was totally cloudy.

• Germany:
  1. Not seen: Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann. Weather was totally cloudy

  2. Seen: Mr. Martin Elsaesser said: "The weather was extremely hazy and some clouds were near the horizon. I observed the crescent through real-time video (contrast enhanced) during the day, as the only chance to get through the haze. The crescent vanished behind trees some 30 minutes before sunset. No chance to visually see this crescent with that much haze, but video made the observation possible. My 9 month old son also watched the screen, but probably was not as satisfied as his dad ;-)"
  3. Not seen: Mr.Samy Khadem-Al-Charieh. The sky was clear of clouds but the horizon hazy.

• Ghana: Not seen: Mr. Abdul-Aziz Anyang said: "Today Sunday 20th September, 2009 we again had cloudy weather in Accra and as we were looking for the new crescent around our local time (18:07) after sunset, Mohammed called from Tamale to report that as he was speaking to me, the new crescent is up there and it has been seen. Unfortunately, that Saturday September 19, 2009 a group from the Ashanti region (Kumasi) reported to the regional Imam that they have sighted the crescent and also with some information from Saudi Arabia to back up their claim decided to end the fast but will celebrate Eid on Monday although some prayed today-Sunday, 20th Sept, 2009"

Saturday 19 September 2009:

1. Libya (Calculations)

Sunday 20 September 2009:

1. Australia
2. Indonesia
3. Malaysia
4. Singapore
5. Iran
6. Somalia
7. Senegal
8. Ivory Coast
9. Tanzania
10. Kenya
11. South Africa
12. Saudi
13. Qatar
14. United Arab Emirates
15. Kuwait
16. Yemen
17. Jordan
18. Palestine
19. Egypt
20. Turkey
21. Algeria
22. Spain
23. France
24. Germany
25. Norway
26. Netherlands
27. United Kingdom

Monday 21 September 2009:

1. New Zealand
2. India
3. Pakistan
4. Bangladesh
5. China
6. Oman
7. Morocco

The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Friday 18 September 2009) at 18:44 UT.