Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, will have its zero shadow moment today, June 5 with no shadow from sunlight at any particular time of day. This rare cosmic event occurs twice a year when the Sun is exactly up.
What are zero shadows?
According to astrophysicist Debiprasad Duari, “Any form of visible light falling on an object generally produces a shadow, unless it is just above the object. People and any object around the world, the Tropic of Cancer and They live between the Tropic of Capricorn. (23.5 and 23.5 degrees latitude) lose their shadow, though momentarily, twice a year. These two days are called zero shadow days”.
Zero shadow day in Kolkata?
Kolkata is about 2,500 km from the equator and about 93.5 km from the Tropic of Cancer, the imaginary line that passes close to Krishnanagar in Nadia district.
This year the first zero shadow day for Kolkata will be on 5th June 2022 and the second zero shadow day of the year will be on 7th July.
Every year on zero shadow days, students and astronomers who lie between the two tropics stand at the vertical poles and various objects and sometimes even stand outside to observe the cosmic phenomenon themselves.
Duari said the event also reminds people of the motion and position of celestial bodies with respect to the Earth, which have a direct relationship to events on the planet such as the change of seasons, tides and eclipses in addition to zero shadow moments. The sun is rarely upward at noon, but is usually slightly lower in elevation to the north or slightly to the south.
Last month on May 14, Mumbaikars observed Zero Shadow Day, which saw no shadow of not only humans, but also anything in the sun.