Organic Light Pan » Moonsighting

It Starts Anew

Youssef Ismail — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 06:24:31 +0000

This evening as the moon made its appearance once again, I was out along the Skyline Highway. It was a smashing way to greet in the new Islamic Year. This evening the year 1433 Hijri started. Without any fanfare or incendiaries the year came in silence, exactly how I like it. Sublime moments bring there own grandeur to share with those open to seeing and recognizing them. I was fortunate to be among the audience.

Muharram Crescent & Venus 1433

The year has gone by very fast, faster than I could have imagined. Endings and beginnings are always times of retrospect and introspect. As I look back over the past year, I find that I have some regrets and some gratitude. It also brings hope and resolve to continue on. Much has changed over the past year both internally and externally. Nonetheless we have no choice but to accept the changes and move on, hopefully attaining growth as a human being.

I have much to share with you, my dear readers, in the weeks to come, and I just hope I can find the time, a commodity that has been in short supply with me lately, to bring out many new and exciting photographs and to share some interesting developments with Organic Light Photography. Its never boring here, so stay tuned.

Sunset # 1, 1433 AH

One thing that you can be certain of is that the beauty of our fragile world will continue to grace the pages of this web journal and its parent website. And along with them my reflections that will hopefully keep us growing as individuals leading us to the nexus of love and action that will change the tide that is rapidly eroding our home.

To all my readers, Happy Islamic New Year and Peace to you all.

Alone Again – But in Good Company

Youssef Ismail — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:06:06 +0000

This is the followup to last night’s moon sighting trip. Only this time no one was with me, well not entirely true as I had two of my usual four assistants with me. It did not take us long to see the moon and as always it was stunning.

No noise, no distractions, not even a breeze rustling the grass. All we heard were the faint screes of red-tailed hawk in the distance. We stayed nearly 45 minutes watching the moon slowly sink in the sky and vanish below the horizon.

We bid farewell to Ramadan, a most blessed time of the year, and hoped that we would live long enough to host it once again in our lives.

To all my Muslim readers I wish all of you a heartfelt Eid Mubarak!

Oh yeah… the moon.

Shawwal 1432

Peace to you All.

Sometimes Nothing is Better than Something

Youssef Ismail — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:11:44 +0000

Nothing

Last evening the 29th day of Ramadan 1432 came to a close. It being the 29th day of the lunar month meant it was time to go out and look for the new moon, marking the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Shawwal and of course Eid Al-Fitr (the festival of breaking fast).

Astronomically the new crescent moon was not going to be visible here in North America. The moon was to set only 7 minutes after the sun and its elongation was below the Danjon Limt for being easily visible with naked eyes. We were not going to see it, but maintaining the tradition is just as important as seeing the moon, so off we went.

Meanwhile down in South America, there was a good possibility that someone in Chile might see it and bring fasting to an end. People in Chile were in contact with the CrescentWatch.org project and all were ready to convey and record the sighting report. To our surprise the report came back as Negative – crescent not seen!

This seemed like the future had been sealed and fasting would continue for one more day. But that would be too easy, right? Suddenly, out of nowhere another independent sighting report appeared on one of the older moon sighting report websites, moonsighting.com indicating that someone in Chile had actually seen the moon.

The sleuthing began in search of that person so that the particulars could be ascertained. Once found, it is discovered of course that our sighter in question only spoke Spanish, oh wait Farsi too. Great, find a translator and then begin the dialogue. After much discussion, and well into the night, a decision had been reached. Only one solitary sighting under very favorable sighting conditions did not provide the certainty needed to declare the end of Ramadan.

It was nerve racking carrying that kind of pressure knowing that the decision resting on your shoulders would effect so many people.

Contrast all this with our carefree 40 minute trip up the mountain, a leisurely 1/4 mile walk to the top of a hill overlooking the fog enshrouded canyons of the Santa Cruz Mountains and below all that the mighty Pacific Ocean. Allow our eyes to feast on the ethereal afterglow of sunset and then enjoying a communal breaking of the day’s fast on the 29th day with good friends. We stayed there for no more than 30 minutes when we were sure the ‘moon’ had set seeing nothing of it at all, and then turned around and came back home. Our conclusion as we walked back to our cars, we have one more blessed day of fasting and then we would all celebrate on the following day.

In the end both endeavors yielded the exact same result - Ramadan would be a 30 day month. Need I say which undertaking issued the greater return?

Peace to you All!

What We Can’t See

Youssef Ismail — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 21:41:09 +0000

The new moon is upon us once again. As I write this post, it is about 6 hours before it will be visible in the western sky provided the sky is not cloudy.

Last month I photographed a new crescent moon that moved through the sky in varying light over a twenty minute period. As elusive as the new crescent moon is in its own right, making it difficult to see, some times the camera manges to pickup light that our eye just cannot perceive.

Pictured in the photo below is the new crescent moon of February 3rd, 2011 taken 10 minutes after the photo that was posted in the Rabi Al-Awwal Begins post. It was a toss up for me as to which photo to actually post for that entry in the journal. I chose the former due to its sharpness, as the photo below used a shutter speed that was a bit longer than I normally like to use and the moon blurred ever so slightly due its motion in the sky.

Ghost Moon

However, what fascinated me about this image was that after I had processed the RAW file, I could actually see the entire shadow of the moon in the sky. There was just enough variation in the light from the moon to be recorded by the digital sensor. Now this is not unique to digital cameras as I have recorded the shadowed moon on new moon nights before using film, however what is intriguing is the fact that my eyes could not see these subtle variations in the light.

Our eyes do not accumulate light the way a camera does. As light enters our eyes the cones and rods on the retina become activated and immediately send their impulses down the optic nerve to our brain where in interpret what we “see”.

In contrast a camera opens its shutter to allow light to enter it. The light hits a piece of film chemically treated to react to light, the longer the shutter is left open the more chemical grains on the surface of the film become activated and retain visual information. The same is true with digital sensors however in this case the sensor is electrically active and starts to record light as charge build upset up when the photons of light cause current to flow through the micro-sized photo transistors on the digital chip. The longer the shutter is left open the more charge is built up and interpreted as brighter light. In this manner the camera is able to “see” things in dim light that our eyes can never see. As long as there is some visible light the camera can record it given enought time while the shutter is open.

Darkness has always been symbolic of mystery, the unknown and all that these ideas bring with them, like fear, terror, evil and so on. And while there is nothing out there in the dark that does not exist in the day, our inability to see in the dark conjures up fear of the unknown. Today however, with modern digital camera technology night time photographs have never been easier to make. And for those brave enough to venture out into the darkness of night to make such photos, we can all marvel and rest assured, there are no monsters in the dark and to know that what we can’t see won’t hurt us.

Peace.

Rabi Al-Awwal 1432 Begins

Youssef Ismail — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 06:55:46 +0000

I will have more to say about this moon in the days to come. It was an amazing sight to see this moon. Not the youngest I have seen but certainly one of the thinest. It marks the beginning of the third month in the Islamic Calendar, Rabi Al-Awwal and is also the month in which the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was born. This year it also coincided with the beginning of the Chinese New Year.

Rabi Al-Awwal 1432

So Rabi Al-Awwal Mubarak to all my Muslim readers and Happy Chinese New Year to all my Asian readers. It is a good time.

Peace.

In Earth’s Shroud

Youssef Ismail — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:28:09 +0000

Last night a celestial event occurred in our sky that has not happened in 372 years. The Earth eclipsed the full moon on the winter solstice and for those fortunate enough to be in an area in North America with clear skies they saw a truly amazing and awe inspiring sight.

In Earth's Shroud

While there are some that feel that certain astronomical events have an influence on the behavior of humanity and other natural events, as a man of science I must say that such a belief is a bit incredulous as proof is hard to establish. While at the same time, as a man of faith, belief in the dominion of the Creator over all of creation is central in my understanding of how the universe exists, how it is sustained and how it behaves.

In a sacred tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of God be upon him) said one morning after the dawn prayer that occurred after a rainy night, turned to the congregation and said “Do you know what your Lord has revealed?” The people replied, “God and His Apostle know better.” He said, “God has said, ‘In this morning some of my slaves remained as true believers and some became non-believers; whoever said that the rain was due to the Blessings and the Mercy of God had belief in Me and he disbelieves in the stars, and whoever said that it rained because of a particular star had no belief in Me but believes in that star.’ “

A passage in the Qur’an describes the motion of the sun and the moon and through implicit understanding so too the Earth and all visible objects in the heavens. Each of these celestial bodies follow and obey what we in science refer to as physical laws which we understand and know how they dictate the motions of the heavenly bodies. However, those of us who go beyond science and have some knowledge of the Knower understand that these laws are not merely physical, but Divine.

When I see an event like an eclipse, my heart is in awe of the power of the Incomparable for not only setting such beauty into place but sustaining it as well. The skill to capture it and present it to others is a gift that I am aware of and grateful to posses. I have searched the web today for photos of last night’s eclipse and while there some nice images, I did not find one that moved me in the same way as seeing it in person. I hope what I have presented above will do that for some. Enjoy.

Peace.

New Year Moon – Muharram 1432

Youssef Ismail — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:24:26 +0000

The new Islamic Year has commenced. The year 1432 on the Islamic calendar began for me just about 1 hour ago here on the West coast of the United States in the San Francisco Bay Area. The new moon was seen by myself and three of my children, all future moon sighters, God Willing, the youngest being only 4 years old.

Muharram Crescent 1432

As usual, my youngest had a hard time seeing it at first, but then finally asked “does it look like a little hair?” To which I replied “yes” and she gleefully said “I see it!” A moon sighter in the making, I’d say.

Shawwal 1431 & Eid Al-Fitr

Youssef Ismail — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:57:53 +0000

The new crescent moon of Shawwal 1431 has been seen as far east as Australia, marking the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Shawwal and the festival of breaking fast Eid Al-Fitr. I will be updating this post as the evening progresses with photos from our local area. Please come back here again. For the reports from other locations you can check Here at Crescent Watch and also Here at the Australian National Crescent Sighting Coordination Center.

Expect a West Coast update on this site at about 9pm PDT. Till then go out and look for the crescent moon, its an uplifting experience. It will be setting approximately 30 minutes after the sun sets, it will be approximately 3 fingers wide above the horizon (about 5° altitude) and about 2 hand spans wide to the left of the sunset point on the horizon (about 24° to the left). Best time for it to be seen this evening on the West Coast is 7:39 pm PDT.

Stay tuned.

Update:

The new crescent moon was sighted by yours truly along with about 30 other Individuals at approximately 7:35 pm PDT from Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. Eid Al-Fitr has commenced! Eid Mubarak to all Muslim readers. Photos are forthcoming…Stay tuned.

Update:

Here is the image of the new moon for Shawwal 1431. It was a beautiful evening with over 30 individuals attending the sighting. Eid Mubarak to all!

Shawwal 1431

Ten Days of Mercy

Youssef Ismail — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 06:47:45 +0000

The sun set in silence on the western horizon. There was a slight breeze that caressed the face. Suddenly a sliver of light emerged in the sky and the month of Mercy began. Without fanfare or pomp, the month of Ramadan entered into our lives once again bringing with it the promise of great tidings. It is a month in which the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God upon him, said “Its first ten days are a mercy, its second ten days are forgiveness and its third ten days freedom from the punishment of hellfire”.

With the ushering in of the crescent moon, the days of mercy begin wherein we slow down, unplug from the madness of the modern world, look within ourselves and find the shortcomings that need rectification and head down that path holding on to the Rope of God in constant remembrance with the hope of becoming better than we are. Ten days for a settled heart, a calm mind, and a peaceful soul to find the solace they need to regenerate a beleaguered body back to its spiritual and physical center.

This month brings with it many blessings , too many to enumerate, too many to even know. It is a classroom in ‘time’ that gives us the opportunity to focus on the improvement of ourselves, to strenghten the bonds of freinds and family and to reconnect with the community at large. This opportunity comes but once a year and not taking full advantage of it, leaves one longing to see it again, with no certainty of ever making back. Make use of this month to garner all that you can. These first ten days, are for you to re-engage with your Lord. So lets get to it.

Peace.

Ramadan 1, 1431

Ramadan 1431 Announcement

Youssef Ismail — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:51:56 +0000

It has been a very busy time the last few weeks here. Much teaching and work revolving around the start of Ramadan this year.

But I am both happy and sad to announce that Ramadan of the Islamic year 1431, will commence on the evening of Wednesday August 11th after sunset and the first day of fasting on Thursday August 12 according to the tradition of sighting the new crescent moon. A valiant effort was made by several people in gathering reports from all over the globe, and in particular in South America where seeing the new crescent had the highest probability. The was not seen anywhere in the world on this evening, even by yours truly.

So why am I happy, well that we now have Ramadan in our presence and we can begin again , God Willing, our fast in devotion of our Merciful Creator in a couple of days with clear certainty of its start. And why sad? Sad that we did not have the great fortune of seeing that amazing crescent moon this evening. Tomorrow the moon will be much larger and higher in the sky and easy for almost anyone world wide to see it. I encourage all of you to go out and look at this phenomenal sight, Muslim or otherwise.

The evening was special as it always is, with over 50 adults and probably an equal number of children as well came out this month to look for the crescent with me and many other sighting parties occurred with equal numbers. Nonetheless the view was captivating and the learning of how to sight the moon was the best I had ever seen.

It is wonderful to see so many people interested in reviving this wonderful tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing of God be upon him.

So to all my Muslim friends and readers and to everyone else as well ~

Ramadan Mubarak!

Above The Fog