Why the crescent is often described as “impossible to see” after it has passed the time of new moon?
Let me clarify what “Birth of New Moon” means. It is the instant of time when the moon crosses a line between the earth and the sun, and since the moon does not have any light (it merely reflects sun’s light) it is dark at this time and therefore, it can not be seen. The sun light falling on the moon reflects back to the sun and the earth is facing the dark side of the moon. As the time passes from birth of new moon, the moon move out from in-front of the sun and several hours later it can be seen as a crescent. 9.11 Question: Taking this Shawwal 1419, for example, the new moon was at 10:46AM, which means that at the time of Maghrib on the east coast, it was 6 to 7 hours old. It also set a few minutes after the sun in the mid-Atlantic region. Why is it then “impossible to see”? (Jan 17, 1999) Answer: It was not possible to see this Shawwal moon on Jan 17, 1999 anywhere in the world, because the sun has to be at certain angle for its light falling on moon to come to earth, and this is n
