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Students measure Earth's circumference on
longest summer day
Friday June 22, 2012 08:42:55 AM,
IANS
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Earth's circumference to be measured at
Jantar Mantar
With June
21 being the Summer Solstice and the year's longest day, the
Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators
(SPACE) here will mark Thursday by measuring the earth's
circumference. »
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New Delhi: Students
from various Delhi schools participated in an exercise Thursday to
measure the Earth's circumference on the longest day of the
summer.
Organised by Science Popularisation of Communicators and Educators
(SPACE), the participants took actual measurements of the shadows
made by the sun to measure the circumference of the earth as done
2,300 years ago by Greek astronomer Eratosthenes.
"Thursday being the longest day and the shortest night, we
measured the circumference of the earth. After today the duration
of the day will be shorter and of the night will be of longer,"
said Pooja Kumar of SPACE.
"We are observing the angle of the sun and measuring the shadows.
In general, the exact timing of the summer solstice changes from
year to year," she added.
Known as Project Paridhi, the measurement activity went from 9.30
a.m till 2 p.m. at central Delhi's Jantar Mantar. The project
involves participants taking measurement of shadows at noon, at
different places on the same longitude, such as Delhi and
Bangalore.
"I am measuring the shadow of the sun through an instrument called
gnomon meaning 'indicator'. It is the oldest method to measure
direction, time and location by shadows," said Mehul, a student
from Ryan International, Rohini.
"Using the shadow of the sun we will find out the angle of the
sun. We are measuring the shadow after every 5 minutes," Mehul
added.
SPACE will partner with astronomers from Kazakhstan, Nepal,
Pakistan and other SAARC countries for conducting the Eratosthenes
experiment.
"What we have gathered is that Thursday would be 14-hour long day.
We measured the sun's shadow every 5 minutes and we will calculate
the earths circumference by the formula known," said Vibhu Narayan,
a student of St. Columba's school in Delhi.
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