'Zero Shadow' as sun comes directly over Kaaba

Jeddah, May 28: The sun would be directly over the Kaaba in Makkah today at midday, in a celestial phenomenon known as “zero shadow,” the Jeddah Astronomical Society said on Sunday in a statement.

On Wednesday, the sun will rise at 5:38 a.m. from the northeast horizon and eventually move over the Kaaba at 12:18 p.m. The Kaaba will lose its shadow briefly. The planetary phenomenon occurs twice every year at the Grand Mosque because of its location between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer.

Due to the tilt in the Earth’s axis, the sun travels at 23.5 degrees north and south of the equator. The sun falls directly over places on the equator during equinox, moves northward toward the Tropic of Cancer and then southward again. The society has advised the public to avoid looking directly at the sun with the naked eye even for a brief period.