Mumbaikars, your shadow will disappear on Friday and Saturday for a brief period

Our shadows are something that we seldom notice, but after this bit of information, Mumbaikars are sure to take notice and may actively even look for it this Friday and Saturday. According to The Times of India, Mumbai will see a phenomenon called the ‘Zero Shadow Day’ where around 12.35 pm on Friday (15 May) and Saturday (16 May) people won’t be able to see their shadows. [caption id=“attachment_2244274” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] This will happen because of the Sun’s positioning vertically on top of the city. It will however hold only for a short period of time. Director of Nehru Planetarium Arvind Paranjpye breaks it down for laymen. The Times of India quotes him as saying, “Now, imagine that one is standing on that part of the earth where the sun is just rising. One can see a long shadow stretching towards west. As the earth continues to turn on its axis, citizens can see their 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.” Because of the tilt in the axis of the earth we experience longer days in Summer and shorter days in winter as the Earth rotates around the sun. The longest day on the northern hemisphere of the Earth is 21 June, also known as the Summer Solstice. The Tropic of Cancer gets vertical sunrays on this day. Meanwhile the Winter Solstice is on 21 December, the shortest day on the northern hemisphere, and on this the Tropic of Capricorn gets vertical sunrays. Between 21 June and 21 December, each latitude between the two tropics receives vertical sunrays giving rise to the ‘Zero Shadow’ phenomenon. The Times of India quoted Paranjpe as saying, “This is an opportunity for people located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This phenomenon happens not just once but twice every year.” So Mumbai, be prepared to watch your shadow disappear below your feet.