'What have you done to my brain?' Photo of a tool on a footpath baffles viewers - and the unusual reason why will surprise you

  • Unedited image of spirit level sitting on brick footpath leaves user baffled 
  • The jarring image looks edited, but was taken during a solar zenith in Australia
  • A solar zenith causes the shadow of the object to disappear for a moment

By Lauren Ferri For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 04:20 EST, 18 November 2018 | Updated: 04:50 EST, 18 November 2018

Internet users have been left baffled after an unedited image of a spirit level sitting on an everyday brick footpath was posted online.

The jarring image looks edited, but was in fact taken during a solar zenith in Australia, which is when the sun is directly overhead.

A solar zenith occurs anywhere north of the Tropic of Capricorn and causes the shadow of the object to disappear for a moment. 

Internet users have been left baffled after an unedited image of a spirit level sitting on an everyday brick footpath was posted online

Internet users have been left baffled after an unedited image of a spirit level sitting on an everyday brick footpath was posted online

The solar zenith angle is the angle between the sun and a line that goes straight up from the ground. 

Posted to Reddit, the image was captioned: 'My solar zenith photo, happens at least once a year if you live north of Tropic of Capricorn. Sun directly overhead, no shadows.'

The user responsible for taking the photo set himself a reminder three months in advance after reading an article.

In doing so, he managed to take a photo that looks like the spirit level is edited onto the brick footpath.

Some Reddit users were left mind blown by the image, with one saying: 'Fantastic! Great photo, but I'm even more impressed with you not only knowing when the solar zenith would happen, but planning ahead for it!'

'Who knew it would make everything look really badly photoshopped? The role of shadows in how we perceive things is clearly underestimated on my part,' he continued.

Some Reddit users were left mind blown by the baffling image with many insisting it was edited

Some Reddit users were left mind blown by the baffling image with many insisting it was edited

Another user doubted the image, saying it looked like it had been edited in Photoshop: 'But there are shadows on everything else. The distance of the sun and the surrounding crap that has shadows. It's photoshopped.'

'The sun directly overhead doesn't mean there are no shadows at all, it means the shadow is directly under the object,' another person commented.

'So a tree branch will still have a shadow because the branches are not touching the ground, so you can see what is 'directly underneath'. Also branches are not necessarily 90 deg to the earth. A flag pole won't have a visible shadow but the flag will.'

WHAT IS A SOLAR ZENITH? 

The solar zenith angle is the angle between the sun and a line that goes straight up from the ground. 

A solar zenith occurs anywhere north of the Tropic of Capricorn and causes the shadow of the object to disappear for a moment.

Anyone along the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere or the Tropic of Capricorn for the southern is able to find out what date and time they can witness it. 

The term zenith is used to refer to the position of the sun. 

The Sun reaches the observer's zenith when it is 90° above the horizon.

The solar zenith angle is the angle between the sun and a line that goes straight up from the ground

The solar zenith angle is the angle between the sun and a line that goes straight up from the ground

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Photograph of a tool on a footpath leaves viewers baffled

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