Children Marvel At Zero Shadow Day In City
Mrunalinee Ramanja, scientific officer at Birla Planetarium, Hyderabad, said discussions were held on the importance of the day and the Earth’s motion.
HYDERABAD: The city experienced Zero Shadow Day at 12.12 pm on Saturday, with children conducting experiments their shadows disappeared. Zero Shadow Day occurs when the Sun is exactly overhead, at which moment the shadow falls directly under the object and gives the impression that there is no shadow. The moment occurred at 12.12 pm on Saturday when the Sun was overhead with respect to Hyderabad’s latitude of 17.4° N.
At the G.P. Birla Scientific Research Institute, which hosted the Zero Shadow Day observation, students and families gathered to witness the rare moment.
Mrunalinee Ramanja, scientific officer at Birla Planetarium, Hyderabad, said discussions were held on the importance of the day and the Earth’s motion. On the main stage, children formed two side‑by‑side circles, holding hands within their groups, while adults formed a larger outer circle to symbolise collective interest in scientific discovery.
She added: “The educational activities were conducted as the shadow disappeared when the Sun was at its zenith. Sundial crafting was organised, with participants given fold‑tear‑fold paper models of south‑facing vertical sundials designed for our specific latitude of 17.4° N.”
Children enjoyed using the two analemmatic human sundials located in front of the building, using their own shadows to tell the time. A solid vertical cylindrical tube showed no shadow at the precise moment of zero shadow, while a hollow tube projected a clear ‘O’ on the ground at local solar noon, she said.
