First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent

Details First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent

Dec 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000afrsk...5...15c&link_type=abstract

African Skies, Volume 5, p.15

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Astronomical observatories are often asked to predict the visibility of the young crescent moon by communities (especially Islamic and Karaite) which use traditional lunar calendars. The SAAO has provided such information for many years, but the early 1990s were a watershed of sorts. Astronomical visibility factors in those years created an unusually severe bias against visibility of the Ramadaan and Shawwall crescents from the southern half of the continent, relative to North Africa and the Mideast (to an extent not seen since the 1860s!). The perplexity caused by the resulting delay in sightings ultimately led to a much greater level of communication between astronomers and the crescent-watching community. The SAAO began collecting, systematizing, and propagating the astronomical information available on the crescent visibility issue, the current results of which are summarized here. Les communauté (spécialement islamiques et karaïtes) qui utilisent les calendriers lunaires traditionnels, demandent souvent aux observatoires astronomiques de prédire le moment oú le croissant de lune naissant devient visible. Depuis de nombreuses années le SAAO fournit cette information, mais les années 1990 furent une sorte de tournant. Dans ces années-là les facteurs de visibilité astronomiques créèrent une déviation exceptionnellement grave par rapport à la visibilité des croissants du Ramadan et du Shawal sur la moitié sud du continent relative à l'Afrique du Nord et au Moyen-Orient (dans une mesure jamais atteinte depuis les années 1860!). La perplexité due au retard qui en résulta dans la vision du nouveau croissant, conduisit finalement à renforcer la communication entre les astronomes et la communauté des observateurs du croissant. Le SAAO commença à collecter, systématiser et diffuser l'information astronomique disponible sur la question de la visibilité du croissant dont nous résumons ici les résultats actuels.

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