Qutub’s shadow helps fix earth’s circumference New Delhi: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), along with science and astronomyorganization SPACE, successfully executed its flagship project ‘Paridhi’ at Qutub Minar on Friday to measure the circumference of the Earth using theshadows cast by the minar. The project was also held at Barapullah Nallah. Under the aegis of International Citizen Science Project, six educators of SPACE replicated an ancient experiment and calculated the circumference of Earth by using Qutub Minar as a sundial the first time. This was done to educate the masses about how planet Earth was measured in the ancient times when there were no sophisticated equipments. Around 200 visitors watched the event at Qutub Minar. June 21 marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and is called the summer solstice, said an official. This year, the solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere on June 21 at 4:38am (IST). “It is the longest day for people living in the northern hemisphere. Qutub Minar has a diameter of 14.32m at the base, about 2.75m on the top and a height of 72.5m. “Qutub Minar is used as a towering gnomon (greek word meaning an object that by the position or length of its shadow serves as an indicator to assess the hour of the day) for the first time and the shadows cast by this monument on the ground was marked and used to calculate the local noon, and in turn to measure the circumference of the Earth. The measurements at Barapullah were done for the third time. C B Devgun, president, SPACE Foundation said: “This time the experiment was conducted at Qutub Minar and Barapullah which resulted in calculating the cumferenceof earthto an accuracy of 85%.’’ Under this project participants replicated and in fact took actual measurements of the shadows made by the Sun on the sundial using paper markers on the grounds to mark the end of each shadow. “The shortest shadow was measured 2,300 years back by astronomer Eratosthenes. Hence, it is also called Eratosthenes Summer solstice -- the day of the year with the longest period of daylight or when the length of time between Sunrise and Sunset is the longest of the year,’’ said a official. 22 June 2013, Times of India
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:12:32 +0000
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