The following astronomical data in the first three columns below was obtained from the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department. The pertinent file may be accessed on the Internet at http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SpringPhenom.html .
Note. The times of day given in the second and third columns have been adjusted +2 hours from U.S. Naval Observatory figures to account for the difference between Jerusalem Israel and Greenwich England (universal) time.
It should also be noted that the first evening of a visible crescent moon (column 4) always occurs only minutes after sundown, which is at the very beginning of a new day on the Hebrew calendar. This Hebrew day correlates to the following day on the Julian calendar as noted in the chart below (column 5). Column 6 is Passover dates for the given years.
* Midnight at the end of the given day.
** Conjunction occurs too late in the day for crescent to be seen the next evening.
*** Conjunction occurred on date of Equinox actually preceding it by 4 hours. But as noted above, it is the visible crescent that established the 1st of Nisan which occurred on the 2nd evening after Equinox.
Note
A Passover on Wednesday is the only day of the week that works with all Biblical accounts of the crucifixion. Jesus was in the grave "three days and three nights" Matthew 12:40. From Wednesday just before sunset [even] to Saturday just before sunset [even] is three days and three nights. The fact that the day following Jesus' crucifixion was a Sabbath (Mark 15:42, Luke 23:52-54, & John 19:31) does not prove He was crucified on a Friday. According to the Law of Moses, the day following Passover (which is also the first day of the feast of unleavened bread) is also, always a Sabbath day of rest to be observed like the 7th day weekly Sabbath no matter what day of the week it falls on. (See Leviticus 23:4-8, Numbers 28:16-18, and take special notice of John 19:31 again. The Sabbath immediately following Jesus' crucifixion was no ordinary Sabbath.)
Understanding that it was a Wednesday Passover and crucifixion also solves apparent conflicts in the Gospel records. In Luke 23:55,56 it says that the women (Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James) went and prepared anointing spices and oils BEFORE the Sabbath. In Mark 16:1 it says that they bought them AFTER the Sabbath! The answer lies is in the fact that there are two different Sabbaths being referred to here. The women both bought and prepared the spices on the same day. The day of the week was Friday. When Mark says they bought the spices AFTER the Sabbath, the Sabbath he is referring to was the special Thursday Sabbath ...the first day of unleavened bread that followed the day of Passover. When Luke says they prepared the spices and then rested the Sabbath, the Sabbath he is referring to is Saturday ...the weekly Sabbath.
There is also proof found in Matthew 28:1 that there were two Sabbaths. Most Bible translations render this word "Sabbath" in the singular because translators, believing the traditional Friday crucifixion scenario, couldn't make any sense of the fact that the Greek manuscripts all render this word in the plural. This fact can be verified by anyone with a Greek interlinear translation or Greek lexicon. Matthew 28:1 therefore should read, "Now after the SABBATHS as the first day of the week began to dawn...".
Therefore, for all the records to add up it must be concluded that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday.
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