2023-04-19 12:52:21
Senegal’s Korité festival, marking the end of Ramadan, might be celebrated on Saturday April 22 due to a solar eclipse scheduled for Thursday April 20, making it impossible to observe the lunar crescent on that day. The ASPA gives the details of this exceptional situation.
Solar eclipse and Korité festival: an exceptional event
The Korité festival, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, might be held in Senegal either on Friday April 21 or Saturday April 22. However, the ASPA (the Senegalese Agency for Astronomical Promotion) has published a press release announcing a solar eclipse for this Thursday, April 20. This event disrupts the observation of the lunar crescent in Senegal and gives an indication of the probable date of the Korité 2023 festival.
The conjunction and the solar eclipse: an impact on the observation of the lunar crescent
The conjunction, that is to say the precise moment when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth, will take place on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 4:13 a.m. UTC. This moment marks the end of one lap of the Moon around the Earth and the start of a new lap. It is also a solar eclipse day visible in the Southern Hemisphere, but not in Senegal.
On Thursday, April 20, the Moon will set at 7:53 p.m., while the Sun will set at 7:23 p.m. The Moon will then be 3 p.m., with an elongation of 7° and a visibility of 0.52%. Under these conditions, it will be impossible to observe the Moon with the naked eye.
The observation of the lunar crescent and the celebration of the festival of Korité
On Friday, April 21, the Moon will set at 8:49 p.m., 1 hour 19 minutes following sunset, which sets at 7:23 p.m. The Moon will then be 1 day, 16 hours and 37 minutes old, and its illuminated surface will be 3.24%. The lunar crescent should be observable with the naked eye in Senegal, wherever the sky is clear.
However, it is important to remember that the observation of the first crescent must always be done in the West, a little to the left and above the place where the Sun sets. Since a solar eclipse makes it impossible to observe the lunar crescent, the Korité festival might be celebrated on Saturday April 22 in Senegal.
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