A Moon So Fine!
Ramadan Mubarak!
The new crescent moon of Ramadan 1437 (2016) was seen this evening by a group of crescent chasers on top the northern Santa Cruz Mountains in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. The sky was somewhat foreboding as it laced itself with clouds right where we expected the moon.
At about 8:45 pm, one of the chasers thought he saw it but he lost it in the clouds as the clouds moved. Then at about 8:55 pm we re-established its sighting as it once again re-emerged from the clouds. Several in the group of about 15 to 20 onlookers were able to see it.
A fine a moon as I have ever seen, it was incredibly thin in a dim sky. Once we had it in our sites, I trained the camera on it and made four images. This one shows it best.
A Fine Moon
The sight of the new moon never ceases to amaze me. This one literally took my breath away when I saw it. I wish the photo could convey what I felt.
Ramadan Mubarak!
Rich on 06 Jun 2016 at 2:23 am #
Nice pict; thanks. Even in the photo the moon wasn’t easy to find! On a phone at least.
Javad on 06 Jun 2016 at 3:14 am #
Dear brother Ismail,
Hello; this is great work, both sighting the very fine crescent and shooting the very beautiful image. Brilliant job.
Regards,
Javad
Anwar on 06 Jun 2016 at 5:16 am #
Mashallah wow. We were in another part of the bay, searching too, and those clouds did indeed present a challenge. Thank you for helping us see!!
Ghani on 06 Jun 2016 at 8:28 am #
Is that California or Russia
Mahmood on 06 Jun 2016 at 9:39 am #
Assalamalaikum, Thanks for the amazing picture. Just out of curiosity, Was the crescent visible to the naked eye?
Rich Lobert on 06 Jun 2016 at 4:46 pm #
Great photo work.
Was anyone in the sighting group able to see this crescent with out optical aid?
Thanks,
Rich Lobert
Youssef Ismail on 07 Jun 2016 at 11:19 am #
In California 🙂
Youssef Ismail on 07 Jun 2016 at 11:23 am #
Yes several in our group were able to see it with the naked eye once it was spotted and pointed out. Two initially saw it as it was still dodging in the clouds shown in the photo above the moon. Once it cleared the clouds we were able to point it out and others saw it briefly with the naked eye, including myself.
Youssef Ismail on 07 Jun 2016 at 11:31 am #
Hello Rich. Thanks for the feedback. Yes it was seen by two men with the naked eye without optical aid initially as the moon was dodging in and out of the dark clouds shown in the photo, and certainty about what was seen was in question as it might have been cloud wisps. Once it cleared the clouds it was confirmed as being the moon, it was then seen with an optical aid and then pointed out to the group. Several in the group, including myself, then saw it with the naked eye for a brief time before it dropped down into the hazier portion of the sky near the horizon. It was only about 1.5 degrees (about 1 finger) above the horizon at the time I made the photo. Aside from the high clouds, the conditions for sighting were ideal. I hope that helps.
Ebrahim Darr on 09 Jun 2016 at 2:43 am #
This looks amazing. And I am so glad you have done this. However there are a few scholars that use moonsighting.com and claim it was impossible for you to sight it and so state that this must be a fake. How shall I respond to them?
Youssef Ismail on 16 Jun 2016 at 8:58 am #
Assalau ‘Alaikum Ebrahim. Thank you for your comment. To answer your question I have written my next post which you can read HERE. Please keep us in your prayers that we can re-establish moon sighting back to the prominence it once had in determining our important religious dates.