Doves, perhaps knowing the day and hour of Rosh HaShanah this year is NOT as easy as we thought!!! (God's plan?) Sorry 'bout the colored search terms, I can't get rid of them. But see my highlighted section below in RED.~~Kay
הישראלית לצפייה בירח החדש
The Israeli New Moon Society
Guide to Observing the New Moon from Israel in 5766 (2005/6)
by Roy Hoffman
The commandment (mitzvah) of sanctifying the month is the first one that the Children of Israel were commanded with on leaving Egypt. This commandment is of great importance because the dates of the festivals, including over 60 commandments, depend on it.
For over a thousand years, the Hebrew calendar has been fixed by calculation. Today, the Hebrew calendar does not match that fixed by observing the Moon. Even as the gap between the two calendars continues to increase, we do not have the authority to alter the calendar until a new Sanhedrin (religious high court) is reestablished. (You may have heard that a new Sanhedrin has been established. However, it has yet to gain widespread recognition and the Sanhedrin that will be recognized will likely be very different than the one we see today. In any case, this new Sanhedrin is not intending to make changes to the calendar before it attains widespread recognition.) While sanctification of the month according to observation is not practiced today it is important to carry out calculations and practice observing the New Moon in order to be ready for when the Sanhedrin is reestablished. Of course, we are not intending to change the current calendar (this is a task for an authorized Sanhedrin, recognized by all) but just to increase involvement in and embellish the Torah.
For several years now, the Israeli New Moon Society, has been asking the public at large to join us by trying to observe the New Moon at the beginning of each month. The Israeli New Moon Society was founded for this purpose by Rabbi Dr. Nachum Rabinovitch, head of Yeshivat Birkat Moshe, Maale Adumim. The society works with the Institute for Kiddush Hachodesh Studies and includes scientists and rabbis from Universities, Yeshivot and elsewhere. The society presents the subject from the point of view of mainstream (Rabbinical Orthodox) Judaism. Nevertheless, the society welcomes participation from anyone.
Our aims
To practice observing and to improve technique: For this purpose you need to know when and where to look. To this end, we supply software, diagrams and instructions. Generally, an observer can develop the necessary skill after a few months of practice.
- To develop criteria for the limit of visibility: For this, one has to find the Moon the moment it becomes visible to the naked eye of an experienced observer. The results can be analyzed according to physical, meteorological and physiological considerations to improve existing visibility criteria.
- To encourage the study of issues related to the Jewish calendar.
Our achievments
Many of our members have become expert observers.
- We have improved the accuracy of lunar visibility predictions.
- New software has been developed to predict the appearance of the Moon.
Important lunar events in 5766 (2005/6)
The young crescent Moon usually tilts to the right as seen from Israel (and anywhere to the North). For the first time in about 10 years it will be possible (unless hazy) to see the Moon tilting to the left on 28th April 2006. This will happen again on 18th April 2007, 17th May 2007 and several times in the spring over the next several years until 31st January 2014. The reason for this is that the plane of the Moon’s orbit rotates over a period of 18.6 years relative to the Earth’s orbit and when it is correctly alligned in the springtime, the New Moon can appear right of the Sun. The apparition of 28th April 2006 will be 21 hours old but younger Moons will be visible in coming springs. There may even be opportunities in the near future to break the current record for the youngest Moon that stands at just over 15 hours.
During this period, it will be possible to observe very short lag-times in the fall. While most of the effort in New Moon sighting has focused on seeing the youngest possible Moon, observations of older Moons with the shortest lag-times have been somewhat neglected. Short lag-times are important in order to improve the accuracy of lunar visibility criteria. There are no such opportunities from Israel this year but from Arizona, USA, (which is at the same latitude as Israel) on 23rd September 2006, the Moon might be seen with a lag-time of 34 minutes and there will be opportunities from Israel in the coming years. The current record, that is reasonably well documented, is 31 minutes from Israel on 1st October 1989. We, the Israeli New Moon Society, will soon have the opportunity to correct this shortfall and break records for the shortest lag-time.
There are five eclipses during the year, two solar and three lunar. The most notable is the eclipse of 29th March 2006 where nearly all the Sun's disk will be blocked out and a general darkening will be noticeable. Two of the lunar eclipses will be visible from Israel. The penumbral eclipse of 15th March 2006 will be seen with difficulty as a slight dimming of one side of the Moon. On 7th September 2006, a small part of the Moon will be seen to go very dark or disappear. All times are in Israeli local time.
Eclipse
Date
Extent from Israel
Start Time
Mid Time
End Time
Solar
3rd Oct. 2005
53% partial
10:35
12:02
13:30
Lunar
17th Oct. 2005
Not visible
13:34
14:03
14:32
Lunar
15th Mar. 2006
-5% penumbral
23:21(14th)
01:48
04:14
Solar
29th Mar. 2006
85% partial
11:59
12:56
13:54
Lunar
7th Sep. 2006
19% partial
21:05
21:51
22:38
The year 5766 is a very special case for experts on the calculated Jewish calendar,. The calendrical conjunction for Tishri 5766 is at 10 hours 876 parts (1 hour = 1080 parts) Jerusalem mean solar time on Monday 3rd October 2005. Because this year follows a leap-year and the conjunction is on Monday between 9 hours 589 parts and 12 hours, a very rare type of delay called BTU TAKPAT is enacted pushing off Rosh Hashanah until Tuesday. The last time this happened was in 1927 and it will not happen again for until 2252. Although, by then, we are not expecting to still be using the calculated calendar.
How to observe and report
In order to determine the moment when the Moon appears, one needs to know where to look. Diagrams and instructions how to find the Moon using simple techniques are given below for this purpose. An obvious object such as the Sunset or a bright planet is used to help locate the Moon. The angular distance between the Moon and the object and its height above the horizon is measured using fingers at arm’s length, the fist or span (the distance between the thumb and little finger with the fingers outstretched) though more advanced techniques such as using calibrated scales may be to some advantage. The figures below are calculated for Jerusalem. They may be used throughout Israel with an accuracy of five minutes. For observations from elsewhere in the World, the parameters have to be calculated for each place separately. Our program LunaCal available from our Internet site http://www.geocities.com/royh_il or other programs: Hazon Shamayim, MoonCalc or Skyglobe, can be used for this purpose. Hazon Shamayim can be bought from Rabbi Tskuni +972 8-9945621, MoonCalc is available free of charge from the http://www.starlight.demon.co.uk/mooncalc and Skyglobe is available from www.csulb.edu/~gordon/skyglobe.html.
You should start searching for the Moon about five minutes (or earlier if using binoculars or a telescope) before it is expected to appear. Use the predicted times as a rough guide (they will only be correct for 95% of observations). At the end of the text at the bottom of each diagram the apparent topocentric illumination and lag time are given. (The simplified geocentric illumination is given in brackets.) The larger these values, the easier the Moon is to see. An observer that is looking hard sometimes tends to imagine that he has seen the Moon. To be sure that you really saw it, divert your gaze for a moment then look back to see if the Moon really is visible. Once the Moon has been found, please fill out an observation form available from our website (http://www.geocities.com/royh_il) to report your observation. One should ideally continue looking till the Moon fades or sets.
Using binoculars (diameter 50 mm) it is possible to see the Moon 10 to 15 minutes earlier than with the naked eye. In order to see the Moon with the naked eye, it is easiest to start with binoculars in order to locate it and then confirm the sighting with the naked eye. When the observation is difficult, binoculars can confirm that what was seen was the Moon rather than something else. For this purpose one should choose an appropriate pair of binoculars (magnification 7 to 20 ×, diameter 30 to 80 mm).
It is best to find a place to look from where the horizon is unobstructed and where there are no bright lights from that direction. The height of the skyline should be less that 3°, i.e., do not stand in a valley.
האגודה הישראלית לצפייה בירח החדש Word Doc or drx.ch.huji.ac.il/nmr/foo/handouts/5766e.doc
Notes:The Feast of Trumpets is the next feast due to be fulfilled.The Feast of Trumpets is the only feast to be celebrated on a new moon.The Feast of Trumpets is the only one of the seven feasts to open up on the new moon, a dark and moonless night. Is this significant?The new moon is not usually visible to the naked eye until it is 24 hours old.Rosh Hoshanah emerges out of a dark night.Jesus born on Feast of Trumpets?Ancient Israel started each month when the new moon was sighted by the naked eye from Jerusalem, Israel. This meant that the beginning of each month was decided upon - not in advance - but as it occurred.New Moon Times 2005
Conjunction
Times in ETOct. 3 10:29 First Moonrise
after conjunction
in Jerusalem
Standard TimeOct. 4 06:20 Next Moonset.
A likely first
sighting should
occur this eveningOct. 4 17:51 FIRST DAY
of the month Oct. 5Location Local time Time zone Jerusalem (Israel) Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 5:50:00 PM UTC+3 hours Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 9:50:00 AM UTC-5 hours Corresponding UTC (GMT) Tuesday, October 4, 2005 at 14:50:00
Kay