Fasting Ramadan is just around the corner. The government will usually hold an isbat (determination) session at the beginning of Ramadan to determine when fasting begins. Today, the hilal perukyat are assisted by modern technology.
They now use telescopes, which are generally equipped with computer automation, so they can point directly to the position of the Moon.
Back when there was no optical technology, all that could be done was to direct the observer to focus on looking in a certain direction. So it's just a tool to focus on. Then telescope technology developed so that it could help whether the light that was seen was really the new moon or not.
However, using a telescope also has its challenges. Since the function of the telescope is to collect light, the observation of the new moon can sometimes be disrupted by the amount of incoming light that the telescope collects.
The main problem with rukyat hilal is that the light of the new moon is very thin or its age is still young. This is often disturbed by the twilight light so that the new moon is difficult to observe. With a telescope, the light of the new moon is made clear, but the evening light is also made clear.
In addition, perukyat use a digital camera so that the image can be processed with special software for astronomy so that the contrast can be increased.
"Digital cameras can record and capture many images, then using image processing software, several images are stacked to compare and reveal the moon.
He explained that the technique of stacking digital images is one way to reveal a clearer image. However, if the sighting of the new moon is very thin, with this technique it is often difficult to see the new moon.
That is why, agreed criteria are needed regarding the appearance of the new moon, especially the parameters of the Moon's height of at least 2 degrees, or the Moon-Sun height difference of at least 4 degrees (= Moon height of 3 degrees) and the elongation of the Moon at least 6.4 degrees in the western region of Southeast Asia.
So the technique with telescopes, digital cameras, plus image processing, is the technology that is being used (to assist in observing the new moon) today.
Even though they have used modern technology, old equipment is still used for additional considerations, such as location gates to direct observations, binoculars, and manual telescopes.