Rapid Fire
Polar Sundial at VSSC
- 03 Jan 2025
- 2 min read
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 features analemmatic correction, allowing it to accurately display Indian Standard Time (IST) and the date.
- 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.
Read More: Vikram Sarabhai Centenary Programme
