Chennai, Dec 17 (Reporter) Scientists at the Vikram Space Sarabhai Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram,has successfully designed an installed an accute and fully functional sundial recently. The sundial was installed at the Rocket Garden of VSSC Space Museum, ISRO said in an update on Tuesday. Sundials are horological devices that indicate the time of day using the shadow cast by the apparent position of the sun. Used as early as 1500 BCE in Ancient Egypt and Babylon, sundials were among the only means to measure time prior to the advent of modern-day clocks. India has been a pioneer in the science and engineering of sundials, as evident from the 18th century time-keeping instruments in Jantar Mantars across the subcontinent, including the Vrihat Samrat Yantra of Jaipur, the largest stone sundial in the world. Although rendered practically obsolete by modern technology, sundials remain fascinating scientific tools, offering insights into not only the history and evolution of science, but also the celestial mechanics and orbital motions of the Earth. In November 2024, a team consisting of members from SPL, TTDG and CMD of VSSC successfully designed and installed an accurate and fully functional sundial at the Rocket Garden of VSSC Space Museum, Thumba (8.53°N, 76.86°E). Unlike common sundials that only indicate the local solar time, this is a “Polar Sundial with Analemmatic Correction”, which accurately gives the Indian Standard Time (IST) as well as the date. Being among the exclusive few analemma-corrected sundials in the world, this system features a unique design that enables simultaneous time and date reading throughout the year using a single dial and pointer...////...