Around noon today, shadows in Bengaluru and Chennai vanished
Did you watch out for your shadow today around 12.17pm, Bengalureans and Chennaiyans? It went missing, didn't it? Well, in reality, your shadow was exactly under you. This happens due to a phenomenon called Zero Shadow Day that lasts not more than a couple of minutes and occurs twice a year. The next date of Zero Shadow Day is August 18.
Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5degrees and so the sun can never be positioned exactly overhead, except on Zero Shadow Days, when it's right overhead a particular latitude, and rays hit exactly at 90degrees to that point. This makes your shadow come under you, which looks like there's no shadow. Today, it happened in Bengaluru and Chennai. Mysuru had witnessed it on March 22.
Bengaluru's Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium has been conducting workshops since last week along with Udaipur Solar Observatory and Aryabhat Foundation, Bhopal, to apprise students about this phenomenon. They also taught people to observe it wherever they are. "All you need is a vertical object. The duration of the shadow remaining absent will depend on the item's length," said Pramod Galgali, Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium.
Galgali said Zero Shadow phenomenon only takes place between Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Since New Delhi is situated in the north of Tropic of Cancer, it will never get to experience this remarkable phenomenon. Mumbai and Pune witnessed it in May last year.
