Summer solstice

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For other uses, see Summer solstice (disambiguation).
UT date and time of
equinoxes and solstices on Earth[1]
event Northward
equinox		 Northern
solstice		 Southward
equinox		 Southern
solstice
month March June September December
year
day time day time day time day time
2010 20 17:32 21 11:28 23 03:09 21 23:38
2011 20 23:21 21 17:16 23 09:04 22 05:30
2012 20 05:14 20 23:09 22 14:49 21 11:12
2013 20 11:02 21 05:04 22 20:44 21 17:11
2014 20 16:57 21 10:51 23 02:29 21 23:03
2015 20 22:45 21 16:38 23 08:20 22 04:48
2016 20 04:30 20 22:34 22 14:21 21 10:44
2017 20 10:28 21 04:24 22 20:02 21 16:28
2018 20 16:15 21 10:07 23 01:54 21 22:23
2019 20 21:58 21 15:54 23 07:50 22 04:19
2020 20 03:50 20 21:44 22 13:31 21 10:02
It has been suggested that this article be merged with Winter solstice, June solstice and December solstice to Solstice. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2012.
Diagram of the Earth's seasons as seen from the north. Far left: summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere. Front right: summer solstice for the Southern Hemisphere.

The summer solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet's semi-axis in a given hemisphere is most inclined towards the star that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the North or South Pole respectively.

The summer solstice is the solstice that occurs in a hemisphere's summer. In the Northern Hemisphere this is the Northern solstice; in the Southern Hemisphere this is the Southern solstice. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year in the Southern Hemisphere[2] and between June 20 and June 22 in the Northern Hemisphere[3] in reference to UTC.[4]

Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like Midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. The day on which the summer solstice occurs is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight – except in the polar regions, where daylight is continuous for anything from a few days to six months centred on the summer solstice.

Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied among cultures, but most have held a recognition of sign of the fertility, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.[5]

The word solstice derives from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

Contents

Celebrations [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ United States Naval Observatory (2010-06-10). "Earth's Seasons: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion, 2000-2020". 
  2. ^ "December Solstice". Time and Date AS. Retrieved 2012-01-30. 
  3. ^ "The June Solstice". Time and Date AS. Retrieved 2012-01-30. 
  4. ^ "Solstice (astronomy)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2011-06-20. 
  5. ^ "Summer solstice celebrations of Christianity, Judaism, Neopaganism, etc". Religioustolerance.org. Retrieved 2011-06-20. 

External links [edit]

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