SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Shadows are longest in the early morning and late afternoon/early evening when the sun appears low in the sky. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the sun hits each location in the morning at an angle. This becomes more vertical as the sun appears to pass more directly overhead around noon.

Detailed explanation-2: -During morning and evening, the incident angle of the light is very small. Due to this, longer shadows are formed in the morning and evening. While at noon incident angle increases, due to which size of shadows decreases.

Detailed explanation-3: -The shortest shadow occurs when the sun reaches its highest point, at local noon. By tracking the length of the shadow cast by a stationary gnomon throughout the day, it is easy to determine the point at which the shadow is shortest.