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Strawberry Supermoon and Zero Shadow Day: On June 14, a huge moon will be seen in the skies. Also, today there will be another big astronomical event, in the afternoon the sun will be right above but the shadow will not be visible. Zero shadow day happens twice a year. This phenomenon occurs when the Sun's declination becomes equal to the latitude of the location. The sun's rays will fall exactly vertical relative to an object on the ground and one cannot observe any shadow of that object. Know more about Strawberry Supermoon and Zero Shadow Day here:
Strawberry Moon
This supermoon is also called Strawberry Moon, Rosemoon and even Honeymoon. This will be the first supermoon of this year. A supermoon occurs when a full or new moon coincides with the Moon’s closest approach to the Earth. The Moon’s orbit around Earth is not perfectly circular. This means the Moon’s distance from Earth varies as it goes around the planet. The closest point in the orbit, called the perigee, is roughly 28,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point of the orbit. A full moon that happens near the perigee is called a supermoon.
So why is it super? The relatively close proximity of the Moon makes it seem a little bit bigger and brighter than usual, though the difference between a supermoon and a normal moon is usually hard to notice unless you’re looking at two pictures side by side.
Earth and Moon will be the closest today at 5:22 pm.
Zero Shadow Day
In fact, today the Sun moving from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer will reach right and near Bhopal and today the oblique rays will fall right on Bhopal at midday and in such a situation the shadow of anything will not be visible. For those living at plus 23.5 and minus 23.5 latitude, such an event occurs twice a year when the sun is right above but nothing is visible. This day is called Zero Shadow Day.
Explaining the phenomenon, astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari told PTI, “People and any object, all around the world, staying between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn lose their shadows, though momentarily, twice a year. These two moments are called zero shadow moments."
This happens when the sun is exactly overhead.
“Any form of visible light falling on an object generally produces a shadow, unless it is exactly above the object. The city is around 2,500 km from the equator and around 93.5 km from Tropic of Cancer, the imaginary line which passes close to Krishnanagar in Nadia district,” Duari said.
The sun will again be exactly overhead in Kolkata on July 7, at around 11:41 am and the day will be the second zero shadow day of the year, he added.
