Zero Shadow Day observed across schools

The Cosmology Education and Research Training Center (COSMOS), Mysuru, of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics on Tuesday observed ‘Zero Shadow Day’ at Vignana Bhavan, Manasagangotri here. Amoghavarsha N., Project Associate of COSMOS, IIA, delivered a lecture on the science behind Zero Shadow Day.

Later, hands-on experiments and demonstrations were shown to participants by the SCOPE Team of IIA, led by Vikranth Pulamathi. Participants were asked to take readings of the length of the shadow made by the Gnomons (Shanku Yantra) every five minutes from 11.45 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. to note down changes in the shadow. Zero shadow phenomenon was observed at 12.22 p.m., demonstrated by a hollow cylinder on a glass plate along with the Gnomons, according to COSMOS.

Yashaswini K.S. and Renjithmon A.A. of IIA showed the sunspots to the participants. The event concluded with participants calculating the declination of the sun, finding the true north, and noting down the zero shadow phenomena, followed by a question and answer session.