Within the astronomical calendar there is a phenomenon called “Day without shadow”, where for two days a year the shadow leaves some parts of the planet Earth that are close to the equator in darkness.
Although this astronomical event occurs in places in Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America, according to experts, this phenomenon still occurs in some parts of Mexico.
According to a scientist from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Salvador Cuevas Cardona, this phenomenon usually occurs between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
What is a sunny day?
A solar zenith, better known as a day without a shadow, is an astronomical event in which the Sun is placed in a vertical position, which means that the star has reached its highest point in the sky or, as experts say, “it has reached its zenith. .
Once at its highest point, as above the Earth, it casts no side shadow for several minutes.
Although it is a natural phenomenon, experts have declared that it is an event that repeats very few times a year, and yet the times in which it occurs can vary according to the latitude or the angular distance between the equator. a certain line and point in Barth.
This year, Shadowless Day will take place in some parts of Mexico from Thursday, May 23 to May 25.
Salvador Cuevas Cardona points out in ONE article that “on that day you can put a pen or see a monument shaped like a column and have no shadow.”
Furthermore, he added that because the Earth revolves around the Sun, “the inclination of the globe changes throughout the year, causing the Sun to rise with respect to the horizon, until it reaches a point above our heads.” .
Experts have claimed that this event has occurred since ancient times in pre-Hispanic peoples, including the Mexicans and the Mayans, who carried out precise verifications of where the Zenithal Sun was going to be in their astronomical calendars.
In places in Mexico, such as Uxamal and Yucatán, the day without a shadow lived on May 23, it was seen in Itzá on May 24, and for this Thursday, May 25, the Sun Zenital in Merida, then in Dzibilchaltun.
It should be noted that the times of this phenomenon are never the same, but this astronomical event occurs twice a year, according to scientists this year the first will occur in May and the second will occur in June or July 2023. .
