Areas of several Arab countries witness the phenomenon of lack of shadow at noon Monday, June 21

Weather of Arabia - Every year, a part of the world witnesses an unusual natural phenomenon that can make the scenery of things in the real world appear to have been modified using Photoshop, which is the phenomenon of the absence of shadows in things at noon.

(A picture of a tree at the time of the occurrence of the phenomenon of lack of shade, we notice how the leaves and branches block the sun’s rays without any shade, so the image of the leaves and branches appears completely opposite of the true shape and size)

Tropic of Cancer and the summer solstice

The phenomenon of noon shadow occurs in parts of some Arab countries next Monday (June 21, 2021) in conjunction with the summer solstice, due to the occurrence of these areas on the Tropic of Cancer at latitude 23.5 north, which the sun perpendicular to on the summer solstice.

The Tropic of Cancer passes over the lands of 17 countries in the world, all of which witness the phenomenon of lack of noon shadow on the summer solstice, and among the Arab countries in which the Tropic of Cancer passes over their territories are: Algeria - Western Sahara - Libya - Mauritania - Egypt - Saudi Arabia - UAE - Oman

The 17 countries in the world through which the Tropic of Cancer passes)

The regions of the Arab countries that will see no shadow at noon on Monday (June 21)

• Saudi:

The Tropic of Cancer cuts across almost the central parts of Saudi Arabia, and the most prominent governorates and centers it passes through are:

About 15 km north of Yabreen, Hawtat Bani Tamim, al-Hilweh, south of Naam and Hariq by about 16 km, south of Al-Rain by about 9 km, south of Halban by about 1.5 km, south of Al-Khasira by about 4 km, south of Mahd Ad-Dahab by about 3 km, north of Al-Suwayrqiah by about 10 km, and south by Al-Yatama by about 2 km. And south of Badr is about 32 km, and south of Al-Rais is about 10 km.

• UAE:

The Tropic of Cancer cuts across the southern parts of the Emirates, and passes through the areas that will witness the absence of noon shade in the country: Umm Al-Zamoul, Liwa, Madinat Zayed, Al-Quaa, and areas located on or south of the latitude 23.5 north. And the absence of the shadow of the meridian will be with the time of noon on Monday (June 21) at about 12:25 pm local time in the Emirates, which leads to not seeing the shadow of people and buildings during noon time.

• Oman :

The Tropic of Cancer crosses the northern parts of the Sultanate of Oman, and passes through the Governorate of Muscat

(The areas that the Tropic of Cancer passes through appear on the map - the yellow line - in Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia)

Other areas experience a lack of noon shadows at different times of the year

On the two equinoxes, which occur around March 20 (vernal equinox) and September 20 (autumn equinox), sunlight is directly above the equator so that it strikes the Earth at a 90-degree angle. This causes towns along the equator to experience no noon shadow on equinoxes.

Direct rays from the sun gradually shift north in the months leading up to the northern hemisphere summer solstice in June, when the sun is perpendicular to the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere.

Then, direct rays from the sun turn south each day until the day of the winter solstice in December, when the sun's rays perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn located south of the equator.

Because of this back-and-forth motion, all regions between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer experience perpendicular sunlight twice a year.