Zero Shadow Day experienced at Bhubaneswar
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Bhubaneswar: The 'Zero Shadow Day,' when vertical objects appear to throw no shadow, occurred in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, at 11:43 on Sunday. This occurred because the sun was at its highest point, placing the shadow directly beneath the object, according to a planetarium official.
Children and adults alike flocked to the Pathani Samanta Planetarium to see the rare event.
"Today, the Sun reached exactly overhead at (11:43 a.m.) in Bhubaneswar and the shadow of any vertical object disappeared at that instant. Zero Shadow Day occurs twice a year in a particular place, said Subhendu Patnaik, deputy director, of Pathani Samanta Planetarium.
The phenomenon was observed for 2 to 3 minutes in the city. Cuttack City will witness the Zero Shadow Day on May 22 at 11.30 a.m., he said, IANS reported.
Uttarayan (movement of the Sun from south to north from the winter solstice to summer solstice) and Dakshinayan (back from north to south) happens because Earth's rotation axis is tilted at an angle of roughly 23.5 degrees to the axis of revolution around the Sun.
Patnaik explained that the Sun's location moves from 23.5 degrees N to 23.5 degrees S of Earth's equator and back. All places whose latitude equals the angle between the Sun's location and the equator on that day experience zero shadow day, with the shadow beneath an object at local noon.
"For the first time, I have experienced this wonderful event. It enhanced my practical knowledge about how the Sun moves around the Earth," said a student, who was present at the planetarium.
