Eagle Sundial inaugurated at Sec’bad cantonment

Hyderabad,Nov 10: One of its kind in Andhra Pradesh, the “Eagle Sundial” was inaugurated by Lt. General AKS Chandele,Director General of EME and Senior Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (EME) at 1-EME Centre at the Cantonment in Secunderabad on Tuesday morning.The Sundial was constructed at 1-EME Centre by their own soldier craftsmen, which displays their technical acumen. Eagle Sundial has a fixed gnomon and a semicircular dial.Sun casts a shadow of the gnomon. The positions of the shadow, as the sun transits the sky, can be seen on the dial.Time provided by the shadow is local apparent time. Using conversion tables, IST can be obtained.Eagle Sundial is a mini-observatory and can measure Azimuth angles of sunrise and sunset.

The Sun does not always rise exactly from the East or set exactly in the West.A vertical pillar along with the sundial measures the azimuth fairly accurately. The Sun rises vertically above only up to 23 degree North or South latitude. The noon angles change with the seasons and can be determined by this sundial.Speaking on the occasion, Brigadier Bibhuti Bhushan, Commandant, 1-EME Centre said that this Sundial will be open to the common people after establishing the security measures.Lt. General IJ Singh, Commandant, MCEME was also present on the occasion.