Zero Shadow Day occurred in some parts of Manila and nearby places on Thursday, April 29 where the sun casts no to little shadow on objects.
It occurred at around 11:53 a.m. on Thursday.
Two science organizations shared amazing photos of this phenomenon where different objects have very little or no shadow.
Earth Shaker Philippines shared four photos captured by their members.
“With the sun almost directly overhead, these objects just had a no to very little shadow. Captured by our ES Members, Lorena Sanchez, Jerick Zel Cañonero, and Daniel De Jesus, taken at 11:53 am today,” the caption read.
In the comments section, the group noted that the phenomenon only happened in the latitude of Manila and nearby places.
It previously shared a map of the Philippines where the zero shadow day could be experienced.
“Today’s Zero Shadow Day is only for the latitude of Manila and nearby places. We created a map that shows the Zero Shadow Days in the Philippines,” the comment read.
The post immediately earned more than 2,400 reactions and made rounds 753 times on the platform.
Some Filipinos also joined in the fun and shared photos of objects casting no shadows in the comments section.
Another organization the Philippine Weather System/Pacific Storm Update re-shared a photo from a Facebook user which showed a marker not casting a shadow against a piece of paper on the ground.
In the caption, the group explained that the sun does not cast shadows at its “zenith” or directly overhead.
“On this day, the Sun does not cast a shadow of an object at noon when it will be exactly at ‘Your Zenith’. Zenith is an imaginary point directly overhead from a particular point on the ground,” the post read.
“It lies on an imaginary celestial sphere. It is also expressed as an exact opposite directional point opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. In simple words, it is a ‘highest’ point overhead on the celestial sphere,” it added.
How does zero shadow day happen?
In an article from the Astronomical Society of India, it said zero shadow day happens twice a year in places between the latitudes +23.5° or the Tropic of Cancer and -23.5° or the Tropic of Capricorn.
“The Sun is almost never exactly overhead at noon, but usually transits a bit lower in altitude, a bit to the north or a bit to the south,” read the article.
In the Philippines, the next “Zero Shadow Day” is slated on August 13.
Another science website called Earth Sky also explained that this zenith when the sun is highest in the sky can be occur in different places on Earth.
“At solar noon, the sun can be at one of three places: at zenith (straight overhead), north of zenith or south of zenith. At temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the noonday sun is never at zenith but is always found in the southern sky,” the article said.
