Talk:Qibla observation by shadows

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by 97198 (talk) 03:14, 5 July 2020 (UTC)

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Qibla observation by shadows

• ... that today at 9:27 UTC, the direction to Mecca can be determined by looking at the shadow cast by a stick (illustration pictured)? van Gent, as well as 2 book sources that can be pasted/translated here if necessary
  • ALT1:... that the direction to Mecca can be determined by looking at the shadow cast by a stick (illustration pictured) at two specific times every year in May and July? Source: Same as above

• Reviewed: Al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta
• Comment: The top hook will only work on July 15 (special occassion), otherwise the ALT1 will hook will serve. I know it's a short notice, but I hope it can run on July 15 because the hook will be much more relevant.

Created/expanded by HaEr48 (talk). Self-nominated at 02:08, 29 June 2020 (UTC).

• New enough, long enough, neutrally written, well referenced. As most sources are offline or foreign language, unable to check for close paraphrasing. Images in article are freely licensed. QPQ done. The first hook is very interesting; foreign-language hook refs AGF and cited inline. Good to go for July 15. Yoninah (talk) 13:54, 3 July 2020 (UTC)

Directional terminology

I'm a bit confused by the geometrical terminology here. Surely when the sun is directly over the Ka'bah all shadows point *away* from it, instead of *toward* it? My point here is that if we have a stick perpendicular to the ground and observe its shadow, the most natural direction that the shadow is said to point at is in the direction from the base of the stick outwards, rather than from the end of the shadow inwards, as some passages in this article would currently seem to imply. For instance, I feel this sentence in the lead section needs changing:

"During these times, the Sun appears in the direction of the Ka'bah when visible from any observer on earth, and its shadows cast by vertical objects indicate the same direction." ["opposite direction" clearer, more accurate?]

And in § Observation: "As the sun crosses almost directly above the Ka'bah, any shadow of the Sun cast by vertical objects (such as a stick placed vertically) on earth will point to the Muslim holy site." ["...will point directly away from..." better?] oatco (talk) 02:12, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

@Oatco: Thank you for the comment. You're right, the qibla should be the direction of the base of the shadow. Clarified the second example sentence you quote. I hesitate about the first example, because the original sentence still work (the shadow does indicate the direction, if you look at the base). If you have a good idea that's more precise without sounding like belabouring the point too much, feel free to make edits. HaEr48 (talk) 03:18, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

"Base of the shadow points at Ka'bah" is still very unclear. IMHO, much clearer is to write "Shadow points directly away from Ka'bah" or similar. Johnnyjanko (talk) 10:02, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

Fair enough, replaced. HaEr48 (talk) 15:26, 15 July 2020 (UTC)