Planetarium decked up for Zero Shadow Day

The Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium is decked up to attract students and astronomy enthusiasts for ‘Zero Shadow Day’ on Wednesday.

On this day, the sun will be at the zenith of Bengaluru, as a consequence of which it will cast no shadow.

According to officials at the planetarium, at around 12:17 pm, the city will be a no-shadow zone. “This celestial phenomenon can only be observed twice a year. The first time, it can be observed when the sun traces a path towards the northernmost point at the Tropic of Cancer, or what is called the Summer Solstice. On its way towards the northern point, the sun passes directly over the zenith of Bengaluru. The sun then retraces its path towards the south, and the zero shadow phenomenon is yet again observable as the sun’s path passes over Bengaluru for the second time,” said a technical officer.

The expert staffers have organised a day-long workshop from 10:30 am to 3:30 pm which can be attended by students of class 8 and above.

“We had about 50 students for the workshop and about 400 people who came to the planetarium to observe the Zero Shadow Days last year. We have also done various trial runs to ensure that everything goes smoothly,” said Pramod Galgali, the Director of JN Planetarium.

Galgali hopes that more people turn up this year to observe the phenomenon.