Students conduct experiment at Qutub Minar

Students from various Delhi schools Monday measured the circumference of the earth using the Qutub Minar's shadow on the autumnal equinox.

The experiment conducted by Space foundation, an organisation working for popularising astronomy, aimed to educate the students about traditional ways of measuring earth's circumference.

Students who took part in the experiment were excited to do the practical experiment. "It is very interesting and exciting as for the first time we are doing such an experiment practically," said Kashika Jain of St. Marks School.

Autumn equinox is when the night and day are of same length and the sun crosses over the earth's equator, marking the beginning of autumn.

"We should never blindly accept the ancient facts and by doing this experiment ourselves one can find out if the ancient experiments were genuine and correct," said Saksham Kumar, a student from Springdales School.

C.B. Devgun, president of Space foundation said: "We are very proud and happy to bring such an ancient scientific experiment to Indian students. Every year the number of the students are increasing and the students are keenly interested and excited to perform the experiment."

Space foundation had conducted the similar experiment earlier at Jantar Mantar and Sundial.

IANS