The date of Ramadan
Dates for the start and end of Ramadan in 2012 are available below:
Date (2012)
Times of first sighting and setting of the crescent Moon*
London
Manchester
Leeds
Glasgow
20 July
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
21 July
Crescent moon easily visible around 21:19; sets 21:38
Crescent moon easily visible around 21:34; sets 21:49
Crescent moon easily visible around 21:33; sets 21:47
Crescent moon easily visible around 21:51; sets 22:00
18 Aug
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
Crescent moon not visible
19 Aug
Crescent moon visible under perfect conditions around 20:20
sets 20:28Crescent moon visible under perfect conditions around 20:31; sets 20:36
May need optical aid to view crescent moon, 20:29; sets 20:33
May need optical aid to view crescent moon, 20:43; sets 20:43
*Times are BST not GMT, and may not correspond exactly with the official (religious) sighting of the crescent moon.
The dates of Ramadan and other Islamic months depend on the sighting of the new crescent Moon.
Information on the visibility of the Moon from anywhere in the world is available from HM Nautical Almanac Office's Websurf facilty:
- accept the conditions of use (Websurf homepage)
- select the 'Moon-Viz' link
- choose or search for a place
- select a date range
- The visibility information (time) is in the 'BEST TIME' column; Moon set time is in the 'Moon set' column. NB add +1 hour for BST.
Moon visibility – further information
Websites with further information about the visibility of the Moon:
- Moonsighting.com - provides moon visibility curves for the current year and next year.
- Astronomical Applications Department of the US Naval Observatory (USNO) - lists New Moon birth times for the whole year. Note, the crescent Moon will not be visible until at least 15 hours after the birth of the New Moon.
- More specifically, the USNO has a page dedicated to the visibility of the crescent moon and the Islamic calendar.
- You can help astronomers improve their predictions by joining in the Moon Watch project. Look out for the new crescent moon and submit the details to the Moon Watch website.
Also of interest
- Al Hijra and the Islamic Calendar - fact file
- Persian astrolabe - a beautiful astrolabe dating from 1070AH by the Islamic calendar, and including a grid for finding the direction of Mecca from a number of different towns and cities.
-
Arabic (Islamic) brass globe -
18th-century globe showing all 48 constellations that were known to the Ancient Greeks, and engraved with the
Arabic names of some of the stars. - Transmission of knowledge - as Islam spread across Northern Africa from the 7th century, it helped change the purpose of astronomy: for example, it was now needed to produce accurate tables of prayer times.
