Sky watching event to educate public on celestial bodies

Secretary of Pondicherry Science Forum Dr Arun Nagalingam said, “Every year, from February 12, the sky will be clear and this makes sky watching easy. So, we have decided on teh date March 8. During the event in Poothurai, between 6.30 pm and 6 am, we can see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with naked eyes. Anyone interested in astronomy can participate.”

The organisation has been organising Zero Shadow Day for four years in a row. Nagalingam added that the sun is rarely 90 degrees above our head. On April 21 and August 21 every year, the sun comes directly above us and as a result, shadows would be exactly beneath you. This phenomenon happens for 12 to 15 minutes after noon due to the angle of the sun. Pondicherry Science Forum is the only organisation to conduct Zero Shadow Day.

The forum, according to Nagalingam, thrives to educate the public about the astronomical events for layman and to clear the misconception on events like eclipses. “We are also teaching the participants about astronomical science such as measuring distances from planets and the Sun. Our students are conducting sessions,” he added.

Since last year, scientists have been looking at ZSD as a fun way — jumping in the air to see one’s own shadow, lodging a stick vertically into level ground to see how its shadows play around — to help school students as well as adults learn about the motions of the earth around the Sun, the seasons, and the length of days among several concepts.