LONDON (RNS) — The Greenwich Royal Observatory is an ancient observatory of the stars and night sky, and home to Greenwich Mean Time, historically the worldwide basis for timekeeping, based on its prime meridian.
This week, its astronomers will be looking to the heavens not to study the stars, but to help people get closer to God. On Wednesday (Feb. 18), the Royal Observatory will join forces with the New Crescent Society, a Muslim moon-sighting organization, to look for the crescent moon that marks the start of Ramadan — the Muslim period of fasting running up to the festival of Eid, expected this year to be on March 20.
Although Ramadan is set to start on Wednesday, it officially begins only when the first sighting of the crescent moon takes place. The Royal Observatory will be streaming online, live from Greenwich, discussing Islam and astronomy, while astronomers on its roof keep their telescope trained on the night sky for the silvery sliver of the crescent moon. Members of the public will also be able to call in during the online broadcast with their own sightings of the crescent moon.
Moon sighting for Ramadan has become an increasingly popular activity in the U.K. in the last few years, as the number of Muslims living in the country ha …