Why in news
Recently, a polar sundial designed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has been showcased in the 'Rocket Garden' at the Space Museum in Thumba, Kerala.
This sundial serves as an educational tool, demonstrating complex astronomical concepts in a visually engaging manner.
Key Features:
The sundial features analemmatic correction, allowing it to accurately display Indian Standard Time (IST) and the date.
Unlike conventional sundials, this sundial replaces straight hour lines with inverted analemma curves, automatically converting local solar time to mean solar time throughout the year.
The analemma correction is based on the figure-eight pattern made by the sun in the sky over the course of a year, caused by Earth's tilt and elliptical orbit.
The sundial is designed with a polar configuration, where the sundial plate is aligned parallel to the Earth’s polar axis and affixed to a wedge-shaped structure based on the latitude of Thumba.
The sundial features a 1.6 ft tall, 3D-printed miniature of the Rohini series RH200 sounding rocket.
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