Moon of Hope and Love

It is the 10th of Jan 2009. The moon is going to be at its closest position to our planet earth (perigee). So what? you say. It is claimed that it will appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal!! If you do not believe it, well maybe you need to do like me, make a point to watch it tonight just after sunset while it raises from the east and do not be late as by the time it is at the top of our heads (Zenith), human perception sees the moon less bigger. They call it the Wolf Moon in Celtic and Native American traditions and folklore, a symbol of night, a time which can be frightening and lonely. It also stands for the path of discovering the deepest levels of self, of inner knowing and intuition. To truly come to understand oneself, one must learn to listen to the voice within, which in silence speaks as clearly as the sound of a wolf howling in the night. The Arabs on the other hand calls it the 14th crescent (Bader) not just because it appears on the 14th day from the birth of the new crescent moon but also because it has always been associated with a beautiful young girl. A symbol of beauty, prosperity and love rather. On this occasion, I send a message of hope, love and healing to our brothers and sisters and the children of Gaza as still the black smoke of explosions continue to raise in Gaza skies blocking the twinkle stars and the bright moon while Israel is determined to kill the innocents with the excuse of self defense . Verily, along with every hardship is relief, Verily, along with hardship is relief (Quran chapter 94 verses 5-6).

Public division

It became normal for people to start talking about the moon sighting every time we come closer to celebrate the two Eids of the year as their timing depends on the moon sighting of that lunar month as per the Islamic calendar. This year, the moon was not sighted on the 29th of the lunar month as no reports were received by the formed committee that was reporting live on TV just before and after the sun set the other day. And as per the sharia law, the month becomes 30 days for that month. What surprises me is the public. They are divided into two camps. One that support the decision of the committee for not announcing the sight of the moon and the other that is surprised why Oman has not joint some of our neighbors who announced the moon site, actually not accurate statement in a way but as they already completed 30 days of that lunar month they had to start a new lunar month. It seems it is very difficult for people to imagine how come one country could sight the moon while other not even though they are, in their opinion, are located almost on the same latitude. I hear one saying, “Did you see the moon last night? It was big, and lasted long time before it set in the west”. All that to justify that we should have announce the moon sight. I could image how difficult for those who could explain what has happened, as it is not easy to deliver complex matter to a street person without getting to explain terms like conjunction, ecliptic longitude and ephemeris tables. I believe that when the time comes where people get excited to sight the moon and gather outside with their binoculars and telescopes. The town will not get confused as they will know how difficult it is to sight the moon if it is just few degrees from the sun.
Happy gazing

my short break to nizwa

Back from the trip. Not like what I expected but still was nice one. Since I had to leave the mountain before sunset, as a recommendation from people not to drive down at night if I do not intend to sleep over. I did not get the chance to watch the dark sky of the Jabal Alakhdhar. The weather was nice beside being Brrrrrrrrrrrr, very cold. 13 degree in the morning and average 16 during afternoon. It was not totally disappointing thought. At the hotel I stayed it was located away from town and so the light flooding was not that bad and the sky was even better than Muscat. Venus was approaching Jupiter. Today as I observed them they are approximately 5 degrees apart. While watching a special program today on the TV, it was announce that the committee that was set to observe the moon sight did not get any report for sighing the newly born moon and therefore the month will complete its 30 days. Being close to the sun, it is always a challenge to sight the moon even with the special telescope that was set at the Jabal Shams. Germany made, the telescope has the capability of spotting the moon in hard conditions where sun light block the moon fading reflexted light.