City to witness 2nd Zero Shadow Day of the year today

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Bengaluru is once again preparing to experience a Zero Shadow Day, a rare celestial event.

This fascinating occurrence will take place at 12:24 pm, and it will result in a curious phenomenon: pedestrians walking along the city's streets will be hard-pressed to see their own shadows.

During this time, stationary objects such as people or poles will cast no shadows on the ground, unless they happen to move. During a Zero Shadow Day, the sun is directly overhead, which prevents shadows from forming on the Earth's surface.

This is because the sun reaches its zenith in the sky, causing shadows to shrink to the point of invisibility.

Zero Shadow Day is a unique celestial event that occurs twice a year in places located between 23.5 and -23.5 degrees latitude. During this event, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, causing objects and people to cast no shadows.

According to the Astronomical Society of India (ASI), an object will lack a shadow when the sun is precisely at its zenith.

The ASI website explains, "For people living between 23.5 and -23.5 degrees latitude, the sun's declination will match their latitude twice— once during Uttarayan and once during Dakshinayan. On these two days, at precisely noon, the sun will be directly overhead, resulting in objects not casting shadows on the ground."