When is summer solstice

In addition, the summer solstice occurs at the moment the northern half of Earth is tilted toward the sun, meaning the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year. At this time, the sun will appear directly overhead for a point on the Tropic of Cancer latitude Conversely, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, when the sun is at its lowest point in the sky and the southern half of Earth is tilted away from the sun.

Related: What Happens at the Summer Solstice? With these activities, you can do everything from erupt a volcano to grow crystals and go on geologic digs. The timing of the June solstice is based on when the sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator, generally between June Here's what skywatchers can expect to see as dads around the world celebrate on Sunday, as well as during the week following the summer solstice.

Just before we got your question, we had updated the text to make this clearer. It is not the noon on a clock but the local, or solar, noon, when the shortest shadow occurs. Unfortunately, the difference between clock time and solar time is a bit complicated. Hope this helps! Actually, the longest day can sometimes occur one day before or after the Solstice.

The explanation is a bit lengthy, so I'll just say that the reason is Time Zones. That's not true or perhaps I misunderstand your statement. Hello Chris. I stand by my statement, but I'll clarify it as follows: Every year the longest day of the year WILL occur one day before or after the Solstice for some places on earth. In order for the date of the Solstice to be the longest day for every place on earth, every latitude would have to keep it's own "solar" clock. By imposing Time Zones we alter this "perfect" clock in at least 3 ways that I can think of.

In areas that share a latitude but have different local clocks, the solstice can occur when some areas are ahead of midnight and some are behind it.

So these areas will celebrate the solstice on different dates, but will experience the same actual longest day. Further, even if Time Zones were 24 equal slices of latitude and there was no DST, there would still be a sliver of latitude every year, abutting either the leading or trailing edge of the Time Zone nearest midnight, for which my initial statement applies.

You stated, "This date marks the official beginning of summer as the Northern Hemisphere angles itself at the point in its orbit closest to the sun, causing the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. Around July 4th this year we will be farthest from the sun and closest to the sun in January called perihelion. Thank you for this. Some words apparently got garbled. As you pointed out, in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the North Pole that is tilted most toward the Sun at the June solstice, but the Earth and its poles is definitely not at its perihelion, which is in January.

We have updated the text. Both are always exciting but really difficult to represent them together like this. Thanks so much for your talent, you guys are amazing!

Maybe give the dog and cat collar a splash of water and a wish, and The House Number I was on my way to visit with my Ma whom had had a double stroke. While I was going through security my phone rang and when I saw Ma's name I knew she was gone. I collapsed and I don't remember how I got to the gate, but there I was with Jet Blue employees helping me. Because of the time differential I assumed Ma passed to Spirit on the 21st of June.

However, when I spoke to the funeral director he said she had passed on the 20th. I didn't realize the significance of this date until I got home and looked at my calendar which still was turned to June. I was hoping Ma could hold on until I got there I was told she had a week, it turned out to be days but she was gone before I got there. Now I know why. Though Ma's Spiritual Path was different than mine, she nonetheless understood and respected my Spiritual Path as a Moon Worshiper and an observer of the 8 Spiritual Rites I hold sacred.

I believe this was the last gift she could give me. Summer was our favorite time of year, and strawberry shortcake was our favorite dessert. It is now July 14th and 3 weeks have passed. I have my waves of joy and sorrow and yet I am grateful to her for leaving me a remembrance that I will celebrate every Full Moon. It appears that within the last five to ten years recent memory someone decided to begin messing with the thought patterns of the Baby Boomers in relation to the First Day of Summer.

It has always been on June 21st prior to that time when the sneaky 'switch' started occurring. Even the Almanac and all of the yearly calendars stated the same thing. I'm sticking with the original date, June 21st because I like the idea of being a purist when it comes down to recognition of when Summer actually begins.

As for the 20th is concerned, it's just another day trying to hijack the original Summer starts when the Earth is at its most tilted towards the Sun, when our axis is pointed the furthest towards the South.

After this point, the axis begins its 6 month movement back towards North, until the Winter Solstice.

The actual date can and does vary. This has nothing to do with anything but the Earth's tilt and its movement. As I am not a farmer or no nothing of farming I was led to believe that the first day of summer is 21st June.

Even Stonehenge and British Heritage say the same. Can you please tell me why then it is the 20th June to a farmer and does that change yearly because there seems to be some confusion.

I've always remembered the 1st day of summer being June 21st also. I feel for you, especially on your birthday. It would change a lot if it was the 1st day of winter suddenly.

This changing of dates is nonsense. They should stick with the reason we added February 29 in the 1st place. I am 75 years old and have always known the 1st day of summer was on June 21st Why is it the 20th of June this year?

Janetta, the summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer. Likewise, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice—which falls around December 22—the Southern Hemisphere gets its summer solstice. You can also think about solstices in terms of where on Earth the sun appears. Earth is not the only planet with solstices and equinoxes; any planet with a tilted rotational axis would see them, too.

In fact, planetary scientists use solstices and equinoxes to define "seasons" for other planets in our solar system. It's worth noting, though, that other planets' seasons don't climatically equal those on Earth for a few reasons. First, planets vary in their axial tilts: Venus's axis of rotation is tilted by just three degrees, so there's much less seasonal difference between the Venusian summer and winter solstices than those on Earth.

In addition, planets such as Mars have less circular orbits than Earth's, which means that their distances from the sun vary more dramatically than ours do, with correspondingly bigger effects on seasonal temperature. Earth makes its closest annual approach of the sun about two weeks after the December solstice , during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. Earth is farthest from the sun about two weeks after the June solstice, during the Northern Hemisphere's summer. For millennia, cultures around the world have devised ways to celebrate and revere these celestial events—from building structures that align with the solstice to throwing raucous festivals in its honor.

Though the purpose of the enigmatic English structure Stonehenge remains unknown, this 5,year-old monument has a famously special relationship with the solstices. In Egypt, the Great Pyramids at Giza appear to be aligned with the sun as well. When viewed from the Sphinx, the sun sets between the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre during the summer solstice—though it remains unclear precisely how the ancient Egyptians oriented it this way.

Many cultures have found unique ways to mark the summer solstice. The traditional Scandinavian holiday of Midsummer welcomes it with maypole dancing, drinking, and romance.

During the Slavic holiday of Ivan Kupala , people wear floral wreaths and dance around bonfires, while some plucky souls jump over the fires as a way of ensuring good luck and health. In a more modern tradition, the people of Fairbanks, Alaska, swing in the summer solstice with a nighttime baseball game to celebrate the fact that they can get up to The Midnight Sun Game has been played times now since The winter solstice has had its share of celebrations, too.

The festival is still celebrated throughout the Andes, and since , a reconstruction of Inti Raymi has been staged in Cusco, Peru, less than two miles from its Inca Empire home. Ancient Romans celebrated the winter solstice with Saturnalia , a seven-day festival that involved giving presents, decorating houses with plants, and lighting candles. And Iranians celebrate Yalda in December.

In the U. Likewise, thermometers hit their high in the U. Growth lines on fossil corals show that more than million years ago, days on Earth lasted less than 22 hours.