Dear all,

  In my opinion, no reliable report of the New Moon being seen from Israel was received last night so please look again tonight.

  Here are the details so that you can judge for yourself. The Moon was not seen Kfar Eldad, Jerusalem, Ashdod, Ramle, Ofakim and Arad. In Ashdod, Ramle and Arad the observers added that the sky was hazy. However, two observers from Beitar reported seeing the Moon. Hillel Skolnik, an experienced observer, saw the Moon twice within about 5 seconds in the expected position and orientation (2 to 7 o'clock - expected 1:40 to 6:11) at 16:59 but, on questioning was not sure that it was the Moon that he saw. David Koningsberg was a first time observer. He saw the Moon in approximately the correct direction only once for a few seconds at 17:01 but with the wrong orientation (3 to 9 o'clock). He was nearly certain he saw it. Observers of the JAS in Amman, Jordan reported that the Moon was a very difficult object in a 10" telescope (2 out of 6 observers could see it with the telescope). As a result I very much doubt the naked-eye observation from Beitar.

  Please look for the Moon again tonight.

  Next month's New Moon Should be clearly visible from Israel on Monday 13h December 2004.

Yours,

Roy.

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