Year’s shortest day Wednesday
By IANSTuesday, December 21, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Nehru Planetarium will organise an event at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar monument Wednesday to explain the phenomenon of winter solstice - the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.
To be held in association with SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators), experts will demonstrate how to measure the suns angle and the circumference of the earth.
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the earth’s axis is most inclined towards or away from the sun, causing the sun’s apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.
The sun will be at its lowest point in the sky and it will be the shortest day of the year for people living in the northern hemisphere.
In New Delhi, sunrise and sunset will be at 7.09 a.m. and 5.29 p.m., respectively. Thus, Wednesday will see daylight for a little over 10 hours.
To be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the event at Jantar Mantar will allow people to also learn about the instruments at the 18th century observatory.
STEPL (Space Technology and Education Pvt. Ltd.) will also conduct competitions for school students.
