The Great Short Shadow Contest

 

 

The results are in!

 

For brother Tom in the Pacific Northwest, we have a 4 foot shadow.

 

Followed by Christie.  Her shadow was only a little over 3 feet.

 

Farther south, Brian checks in with a 23 inch shadow.

 

And my shadow, it’s barely measurable.   It’s only 3 inches from my toes!

 

It’s all about latitude.  The equator is at zero degrees.  The tropics are defined by the Tropic of Cancer to the North and the Tropic of Capricorn to the south.  These are the farthest points north and south that the sun can ever be directly overhead.  The Tropic of Cancer is at 24 degrees north of the equator.  If I were standing on that line, my shadow would be straight down at high noon on the summer solstice.  (If I were on the equator looking north on the summer solstice, my shadow would be behind me.)  Where we live in Edinburg, TX, we’re less than 3 degrees north of the Tropic of Cancer, so hardly any shadow at all.  At Becky’s house in Erie, CO, they’re 16 degrees north of the Tropic of Cancer.  And in Edmonds, they’re 24 degrees north of the Tropic of Cancer.  At 48 degrees north on the globe, they’re closer to the north pole than they are the equator!