As the Pilgrimage month of islam – the month of Hajj – Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH coming upon us, the search for the first sign of the crescent moon (hilaal) of 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH began on Sunday evening, 18 June 2023 around the world. Saudi Arabia has announced that the crescent moon was sighted there but we have not received any photo of the crescent moon from the region. The moon sighting (rukyatee hilal) in Indonesia, however, produced negative sightings thus the government announced that 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH in Indonesia begins on Tuesday, locally.
Based on astronomical calculation and crescent moon visibility map for Dhulhijjah 1444 AH, the crescent moon will not be visible from the eastern part of the globe up to the Africa. There will be possibility of naked eye sighting from the west part of North America on Sunday evening.
Photos of the Crescent Moon of Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH
From Basrah, Iraq, we received a CCD image of the tiny crescent moon from the evening of Ahad, 18 June 2023 as viewed from a telescope focusing infra-red light. Below image is a stack of 120 images which were not possible to see using naked-eye.
Crescent moon image of 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH from Basrah, Iraq as obtained using CCD-imaging through a telescope. Image was acquired after sunset local time on Sunday, 18 June 2023 CE.
Stay tuned, for more crescent moon photographs of 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH from around the world.
First, reliable, naked-eye sighting reports were received from Texas and California in the USA from Sunday evening local time. Here is a beautiful photo of the thin crescent moon of 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH from Santa Cruz Mountains, California as taken by Youssef Ismail. This reports confirm the visibility map of Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH that states the possibility of naked-eye sightings from this region.
Photograph of the crescent moon of 1 Dhul-Hijjah 1444 AH from Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, on Sunday evening, 18 June 2023 (Youssef Ismail).
