People of Calcutta experienced zero shadow moment on Sunday when there is no shadow from sunlight at a particular time of the day.

Braving the scorching sun, people across age groups gathered on rooftops and other places in various areas from 11:30 am onwards to catch the particular moment which arrived at 11:34 am.

The shadow shrunk even as the sun blazed and youngsters shouted in excitement when the moment arrived.

Explaining the phenomenon, astrophysicist Debiprosad Duari said, “People and any object, all around the world, staying between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn lose their shadows, though momentarily, twice a year. These two moments are called zero shadow moments.”

This happens when the sun is exactly overhead.

Any form of visible light falling on an object generally produces a shadow, unless it is exactly above the object. The city is around 2,500 km from the equator and around 93.5 km from Tropic of Cancer, the imaginary line which passes close to Krishnanagar in Nadia district, Duari said.

“The sun will again be exactly overhead in Kolkata on July 7, at around 11:41 am and the day will be the second zero shadow day of the year,” he added.