Museum memorializes war dead with brilliant precision

Inspired by ancient solar temples like the Newgrange Tomb (which catches winter solstice sun), the Canadian War Museum included an interesting architectural feature in its 21st century rebuild. Each November 11, Remembrance Day in Canada, a carefully-placed window allows a column of morning sun to frame the headstone of Canada’s Unknown Soldier at 11 am Eastern Standard Time (DST -5:00). This coincides with two minutes of silence observed at Canada’s War Memorial in downtown Ottawa.

The phenomenon is being webcast live from the museum today, so if you care to see it you can tune in here.

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Canadian War Museum