Lahaina Noon
Once in May and once in July, you can experience living in a 2D rendering of a select few locations. Observable shadows are negated by the culmination of the sun at the zenith during solar noon, creating a subsolar point.
The phenomenon is not restricted to Hawaii, but the name Lāhainā Noon was coined after a contest sponsored by the Bishop Museum. Lāhainā Noon was selected based on the translation of lā hainā: “cruel sun”. The ancient Hawaiians called it kau ka lā i ka lolo: "the sun rests on the brains”.
In Mecca, this happens over the Kaaba, often referred to as al-Ka'ba al-Musharrafa. The Kaaba is the quibla, the point faced by Muslims around the world in prayer. The Kaaba was built at a point in which this would happen in order to allow its position to be deduced by those in other parts of the world based on the shadows cast by vertical objects.
