Since the dates for Mumbai fell on May 15 and 16, Mumbaikars who didn't pay attention to their shadows can watch out for the sudden disappearance of this eternal companion on Saturday at 12.35 pm.
Friday was the Zero Shadow Day in Mumbai. Zero Shadow Day occurs in the region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. People residing in this region can observe their shadows disappearing for a few minutes on this particular day.
Since the dates for Mumbai fell on May 15 and 16, Mumbaikars who didn't pay attention to their shadows can watch out for the sudden disappearance of this eternal companion on Saturday at 12.35 pm.
Explaining the phenomenon, Nehru Planetarium director Arvind Paranjype said, "Earth is spherical in shape and is rotating on its axis once every 24 hours and going round the sun once every 365 days. Now, imagine that you are standing on that part of the earth where the sun is just rising. You will see a long shadow of yourself stretching towards west. As the earth continues to turn on its axis, you will see your shadow becoming smaller and smaller till the point when it will be the shortest. At this stage, the shadow will be pointing exactly north-south. Then, the shadow will start becoming longer but this time it will stretch towards east."
The axis of the earth is also tilted to the plane on which it goes round the sun. The tilt is about 23.5 degrees. Because of this tilt, winter nights are longer than days and summer days are longer than nights. The longest night comes around December 21. On this day, sun rays fall vertically on the Tropic of Capricorn. The longest day comes around June 21 and on this day, sun rays fall vertically on the Tropic of Cancer. If we observe the sunrise (and sunset), we see its position shifting over the horizon day by day northwards from December 21 onwards and then southwards after June 21. In India, we call this Uttarayan and Dakshinayan.
To observe the Zero Shadow Day, one can stand or place a vertical object in the sun close to noon and see the shadow slowly becoming smaller and smaller before disappearing completely for a few minutes.
Zero Shadow Day is an annual event occurring on the same dates each year.
Maha cities watch out
Pune, May 14/15: 12:31pm
Mumbai, May 15/16: 12:35pm
Ahmadnagar, May 16/17: 12:27pm
Aurangabad, May 19/20: 12:25pm
Jalna, May 19/20: 12:23pm
Nashik, May 20/21: 2:31pm
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