Only once a year at 11:11 am the sun aligns perfectly to uncover this memorial’s hidden beauty

The Anthem Veterans Memorial (AVM) in Anthem, Arizona, is a monument in honor of the United States military. Well, it is “incomplete” 364 days a year. To understand and appreciate it, you must be there at a particular time. And sun.

“At exactly 11:11 a.m. [PT] every veteran Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s beams go through the circles of the five Armed Services columns to frame an ideal sun oriented spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States,” the city’s council composes. “The five columns represent the unity of the five branches of the United States military serving loyal together.”

Those incorporate the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the United States Coast Guard. “They are build in size with their suitable military seal positions on every column upon the Department of Defense recommended precedence.”

A great deal of physical and mental work went into building this monument. “Every year, the focal point of the sun is slightly offset from precedent years by only a couple horizontal or vertical arc-seconds relative to the timing of the required azimuth/height position of the sun,” AVM architect Jim Martin clarified. “Using the measurable mean of the 100-year information, the altitude and azimuth angles for the structure were adjusted to give time/error fluctuation of plus or minus 12 time seconds from the International Atomic Time sign of 11:11:11 a.m. <… > we likewise checked the change 500 years out, and if the structure is as yet standing, it will work.”

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