At a very specific time every year, thousands troop to the Anthem Veterans Memorial In Anthem, Arizona. A monument built in honor of the great service and sacrifice of the men and women in the United States Army.

To appreciate the hidden beauty of the pillars, guests are required to be there at a specific day and time of the year and the sun’s presence is also appreciated.

As written by the city’s community council, “At precisely 11:11 a.m. [PT] each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States,”

“The five pillars represent the unity of the five branches of the United States military serving steadfast together.” Those include the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the United States Coast Guard.”

 They are staggered in size with their appropriate military seal placements on each pillar based upon the Department of Defense prescribed precedence.”

Building the monument was not a walk in the park and a lot of minds were combined to come up with this historical masterpiece.

“Each year, the center of the sun is slightly offset from other years by just a few horizontal or vertical arc-seconds relative to the timing of the required azimuth/altitude position of the sun,” AVM chief engineer Jim Martin explained.

 “Using the statistical mean of the 100-year data, the altitude and azimuth angles for the structure were adjusted to provide time/error fluctuation of plus or minus 12 time seconds from the International Atomic Time mark of 11:11:11 a.m.

we also checked the variance 500 years out, and if the structure is still standing, it will work.”

More info: onlineatanthem.com

At a very specific time every year, thousands troop to the Anthem Veterans Memorial In Anthem, Arizona

visitarizona -Via

To appreciate the hidden beauty of the pillars, guests are required to be there at a specific day and time of the year and the sun’s presence is also crucial

Mike Spinelli -Via

“At precisely 11:11 a.m. [PT] each Veterans Day (Nov. 11), the sun’s rays pass through the ellipses of the five Armed Services pillars to form a perfect solar spotlight over a mosaic of The Great Seal of the United States,”

Anthem Community Council -Via

The five pillars represent the unity of the five branches of the United States military serving steadfast together.

Anthem Community Council -Via

They are staggered in size with their appropriate military seal placements on each pillar based upon the Department of Defense prescribed precedence

Mike Spinelli -Via

A lot of minds were combined to come up with this historical masterpiece.

Anthem Community Council -Via

Using the statistical mean of the 100-year data, the altitude and azimuth angles for the structure were adjusted to provide time/error fluctuation of plus or minus 12 time seconds

Mike Spinelli -Via