After the disagreement last Sha’ban, an agreement was reached between the Arab countries in the current month of Ramadan, with the exception of Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia among others, that Thursday, the 29th of Ramadan, corresponding to this April 20, the sighting of the Shawwal crescent in all these countries by certain legitimate groups. Indicates the day investigated by .
What does astronomy say?
To understand the problem of seeing the crescent from an astronomical perspective, we start by getting to know the moon. Moon’s rotation around the EarthThis happens every 28 days.
You can easily observe this cycle from your home, go to the roof of the house at the same time every day and think about the position of the moon in the sky and you will see it at the beginning of the Hijri month. Above the western horizon, i.e. the position of the sunset, after it descends below the horizon, after that and as the days go by, you will see the moon changing its position, moving away as it jumps across the sky from day to day. from the sun.
At a certain point in the Moon’s cycle, it is in the same straight line with the Sun and the Earth, and this is called the moment of conjunction, and it cannot be seen by the naked eye, because the Sun lights up the sky. But astronomers can easily calculate the conjunction moment for each lunar month and decades.
After the moment of conjunction, the Moon begins to move slightly away from the Sun in the sky, it is so close to it that it is not easily visible at first, but after about 14 hours from the moment of conjunction, the Moon can be seen in the sky with the naked eye after sunset.
Crescent Vision
According to the International Astronomical CenterThe moment of conjunction this year will be on Thursday, April 20 at exactly 7:12 Makkah al-Mukharramah time, and this leaves the Moon about 11 hours to reach the moment of sunset away from the Sun.
This period is neither medium nor long, so that all Arab countries are expected to see the crescent, nor short, so the dispute is settled in advance and it is said that it cannot be seen astronomically.
According to the center, the crescent can be seen with conventional binoculars in some Arab countries, including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. As for Egypt and Sudan, they can track. Crescent with telescope in areas near border of western state.
As for other countries like Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Iraq, it will be difficult for them to observe the crescent with the naked eye or with any instruments. A regular telescope, because the crescent is closest to the horizon after sunset on the day of viewing.
Irrespective of astronomical calculations, the sighting of the crescent of the month of Shawwal and the declaration of this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr are subject to declaration in each country by its legal bodies. Crescent sighting groups.
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