Midday Without a Shadow: How Hawaii Twice a Year Becomes the Center of a Strange Optical Illusion (10 photos + 1 video)

Look at this photo. The shadows cast by the yellow poles… just disappeared. No, they weren't Photoshopped. This is a real photo taken in Hawaii.





The thing is, the sun was right at its zenith. Vertical objects stopped casting shadows because the rays were falling strictly perpendicular to the ground.



Hawaiians call this phenomenon "Lahaina Nun" - "cruel sun."





This optical illusion happens twice a year. And not only in Hawaii. There's no magic behind it, just science.



There is such a thing as the subsolar point. At this point, the sun's rays strike the planet's surface strictly perpendicularly. Therefore, any vertical object casts no shadow.



The name "Lahaina Nun" was coined at the Bishop Museum of Hawaii. It refers to the ancient capital of Hawaii, the city of Lahaina on the island of Maui. Incidentally, "La haina" in Hawaiian means "cruel sun."



As the Earth rotates, the subsolar point moves westward, completing a full orbit around the planet in one day. It also moves from north to south, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.



When the subsolar point is on the Tropic of Capricorn, the December solstice occurs.



And on the Tropic of Cancer, it's June. The March and September equinoxes occur when the subsolar point crosses the equator.



The exact dates of Lahaina Noon vary from year to year. The first event occurs in May, the second in July. The time is usually between 12:16 and 12:43 PM Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time.