The shadow of the Kaaba will disappear today.. and the reason

2024-05-27 2024-05-27T08:39:03Z

Weather of Arabia - Today, Monday, May 27, 2024, corresponding to Dhul-Qi’dah 19, 1445 AH, the sun will perpendicular to the Holy Kaaba, coinciding with the time of the noon call to prayer in the Grand Mosque. Majed Abu Zahra, President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, pointed out that this perpendicular to the sun is the first during the current year 2024, when the sun will reach its maximum height at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, which will lead to the shadow of the Kaaba completely disappearing and the meridian shadow becoming zero.

Abu Zahra explained that the sun will be tilted in the sky of regions far from this region at the same time, and this phenomenon occurs as a result of the location of the Holy Kaaba between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer, as the sun becomes in a straight line with the Kaaba as it moves from the equator to the Tropic of Cancer in the month of May, and also when It returns south to the equator from the Tropic of Cancer in July.

On Monday, Dhul-Qi’dah 19, 1445, corresponding to May 27, the sky of Mecca will witness the sun perpendicular to the Holy Kaaba, coinciding with the time of the noon call to prayer in the Grand Mosque at 12:18 pm (9:18 am GMT), which is the first sun perpendicular this year 2024. pic.twitter .com/wxFBB1rHkI

- Jeddah Astronomical Society (@JASsociety) May 25, 2024

What is the reason for the disappearance of the shadow of the Kaaba?

According to Abu Zahra, the shadow of the Holy Kaaba will disappear completely at 12:18 pm Mecca time. He explained that areas located at latitudes less than 23.5 degrees north and south witness this phenomenon twice a year, but at different times.

The difference in the times of the sun’s perpendicularity to the Kaaba is due to the latitude of the region, and this phenomenon occurs in a few places confined between the equator and the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. It is worth noting that the phenomenon of the perpendicularity of the sun was used in ancient times to calculate the circumference of the Earth using simple rules in geometry more than 2000 years ago, which proves that the Earth is spherical.

The ancients also used a piece of wood to determine the Qiblah during the perpendicular phenomenon, where the piece of wood is erected perpendicular to the surface of the earth at the time of perpendicularity, and the opposite direction of the shadow points towards the Holy Kaaba, which helps those living in areas far from Mecca determine the direction of the Qiblah accurately in the Arab countries. And the regions adjacent to the Arctic, Africa, Europe, China, Russia and East Asia.