The Ray of Light

BY PETER HARRIS

The Ray of Light, as witnessed by over a million visitors every year, is a simulation achieved using complex mirrors, lenses and lamps.

Light is a strange thing, capable of drastically altering our perception of an object or space. The Ray of Light is a focal point within the ceremonial heart of the Shrine of Remembrance, the Sanctuary. Its exact alignment is a key factor in the memorial’s design, allowing a thin shaft of sunlight to pass over the word ‘LOVE’ inscribed on the Stone of Remembrance on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It is an incredible feat of mathematics and geospatial mapping requiring 140-odd pages of calculations—all in a time pre-dating modern computer modelling.

Adjustments were made to account for the introduction of daylight savings in 1971. A mirror was installed on a fixed plinth hidden away on the upper balcony to ensure the shaft of sunlight would continue its precise journey. Each year, the geospatial team from RMIT dutifully attend the Shrine a few weeks before Remembrance Day (11 November) to measure the alignment of the mirrors with an aperture leading down into the Sanctuary. Testament to the quality of design and care taken constructing the Shrine, only a fraction of a millimetre in movement has been recorded in recent decades.

The ray of sunlight streams through the aperture in the Shrine’s roof and down into the Sanctuary below

The Sanctuary is an impressive, cavernous structure of granite, marble and mighty limestone columns raised in dedication of the fallen. Light spills into this sacred space from a lightwell in the ceiling far above, casting a glow across the friezes and stone walls and creating a warm and inviting ambience, also one that is respectful of the building materials. Hidden from view are four specialised LED luminaires, sensitively angled and colour balanced to supplement sunlight in darker winter months. They project wavelengths that highlight the surface and texture of stonework, showing details that previously went unnoticed. Tiny fossils within the limestone are all the more prominent for keen eyes that seek them out.

The reflected ‘natural Ray of Light’ makes its path across the inscription on the Stone of Remembrance at 11am on Remembrance Day—a sight viewed in person only by the serving Governor of Victoria and members of the official party. At noon visitors can also experience the natural Ray of Light due to daylight saving time changes.

The simulated light passes across the word ‘Love’, inscribed on the ‘Stone of Remembrance’ at the heart of the Sanctuary

The Ray of Light witnessed by millions of visitors each half hour in the Sanctuary is a simulation, achieved using complex mirrors, lenses and lamps installed in the-1980s. The mechanisms of this simulation are mobile and are moved to allow the natural light to pass through on Remembrance Day. Adjustments in alignment are made with a micrometer spindle, affecting a hundredth of a millimetre per revolution.

The simulation had been in place unchanged for almost forty years, and although reliable, the relentless need for filament lamps became challenging. Times and technology have changed and the lamps which burned within the mechanism were no longer manufactured commercially. In response, the Shrine installed a replacement LED projector in 2020, which seamlessly continues this tradition of commemoration, albeit without the (sometimes explosive) need for lamp changes.

The ‘old’ stage lamp above and its modern LED replacement below