Cities lying on the equator experience a "shadowless day" during the March equinox.
Objects standing at an upright position in some parts of Malaysia will not cast shadows for a few seconds at noon, owing to an upcoming phenomenon. OP Lamps
An announcement about the unique upcoming visual spectacle was issued by Malaysia's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in a press release on Facebook.
The effect, which results in a momentary "shadowless afternoon" on two days, will occur on Mar. 27 in Putrajaya, and Mar. 28 in Kuala Lumpur.
The last time a shadowless afternoon occurred in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia was two years ago, also on Mar. 28.
Shadowless days also occur in Singapore, but without the fanfare.For objects in public, such as lamp posts, they can appear surreal when devoid of shadows and can produce a nifty optical illusion effect.
This phenomenon is related to the March Equinox that fell on Mar. 20 of this year.
An equinox occurs when the Sun is directly positioned above the equator.
Equinoxes have a significant cultural value throughout the world.
For most of the year, the Earth revolves around the Sun at an angle. This tilt causes the light from the Sun to fall unequally across Earth for differing amounts of time throughout the year.
During an equinox, however, the axis of the Earth and its orbit line up such that light falls equally on both halves of the Earth's hemispheres. Two equinoxes occur throughout the year in March and in September.
Therefore, those who live on the equator during such an equinox can enjoy a "shadowless" afternoon when the Sun is directly above the Earth.
Since the sunlight will fall directly on top of any upright object, it will only be able to cast a shadow directly below itself.
Hence, it would appear as though there are no shadows at all for a while.
On Mar. 20, for instance, cities like Pontianak in West Kalimantan and Quito in Ecuador, which lie directly on the equator, experienced a shadowless day.
The word "Ecuador" comes from the Spanish for "equator", while "Quito" comes from the native Tsafiki language and is related to two words that roughly translate to "centre of the world".
For those who live on the equator, day and night will also last an equal amount of time.
The word "equinox", in fact, comes from the Latin for "equal" and "night", referring to the equal division between night and day during such occasions.
This photo from NASA shows what this equal division during the March equinox looks like from outer space:
Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are located slightly north of the equator, hence the date on which the shadowless afternoon will occur differs from countries that are directly on the equator.
Top photos via Bernama & Drone Kings in Darwin YouTube
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