Hyderabad: A rare event called 'The Zero Shadow Day' was witnessed by the citizens of Hyderabad today, where the shadows of the citizens disappeared from the 12:12 PM to 12:14 PM, which was for a total of two minutes. According to scientists, this phenomenon occurs due to the sun's rays falling vertically at some places on the surfaces. Officials from the Birla Science Center issued a statement saying that this phenomenon occurred as objects kept upright, or at 90 degrees in the sun, weren't able to cast a shadow for two minutes.
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Officials said that even though the sun appears to be going overhead in the afternoon every day, there will not be such occurrences on a daily basis. Because the earth is spherical, the sun's rays fall only on the equator in the afternoon. They explain that the rays do not fall directly to the north and south. The course of the Sun is northward for six months, moving towards the northern end, and southward for six months, moving towards the southern end.
During the period when Zero Shadow Day takes place, the earth's position is said to such that it is tilting for about 23.5 degrees, so the sun's position is directly overhead to that of the people at some places on the surface. The sun's position is overhead in the afternoon at all degrees in north and south of the equator. The scientists explained that the Zero Shadow Day occurs twice in a year, once where the sun's movement is towards the north, and the second time when the earth is moving towards the south.
