“The Tropics” are defined as the areas on Earth where the Sun is sometimes directly overhead. In the North, the Tropic of Cancer gets the Sun directly overhead on the Summer Solstice. In the South, the Tropic of Capricorn gets the Sun directly overhead on the Southern Summer Solstice (which is the Northern Winter Solstice).
If you live exactly on either the Tropic of Cancer, or the Tropic of Capricorn, then this will happen once a year. All the areas in between have this happen twice a year. It also happens twice a year on the Equator, once as the Sun moves (from our perspective) north, and once as it moves south.
Lahaina Noon occurs at High Noon. That’s the time of day when the Sun is the highest in the sky. During Lahaina Noon, this means the Sun is exactly at a 90 degree angle. If you put a stake in the ground, exactly perpendicular to the Earth’s surface, it will then have no shadow at all.
I’ve never experienced Lahaina Noon in my life, because I’ve never been in The Tropics on the correct dates, or I wasn’t aware of it. This year is different, and I tried to find out when it occurs for me, at least in the closest major city. I thought it would be easy.
Online searches only help with the dates and times in Hawai’i. The word “Lahaina” means “cruel Sun” in Hawai’ian. It’s considered “a thing” in Hawai’i. If you’re elsewhere, then you’re out of luck; the Internet won’t help you much. Asking artificial intelligence programs is also a waste of time.
Fortunately, there is a website that lists the dates and times for Lahaina Noon in certain Hawai’ian location. Among these locations is Hilo, which has almost the exact same latitude as Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Hilo is at 19.7216° N latitude. Puerto Plata is at 19.7808° N. Not much of a difference, so Lahaina Noon should be on the same day. Puerto Plata is a few hours ahead of Hilo, but I hoped it wouldn’t matter, and it shouldn’t matter enough to make a difference. Lahaina Noon should be on May 18th in both places.
When is High Noon in Puerto Plata on that day?
12:39.
So I got ready with my level, which I’d purchased for that purpose, my cell phone and a bottle of red wine, also purchased for this purpose.
The Lahaina gods smiled upon me, and there were no clouds. I verified that the bottle was perpendicular to the ground from all sides:
As we approached 12:39, the shadow got smaller and smaller:
Finally, perfection!
The small shadow around the base is simply because it’s tapered at the bottom.
