From Stonehenge’s circle of standing stones, the sun will rise directly over an ancient avenue leading away to the northeast on the solstice. Monuments at Stonehenge in England, Karnak in Egypt, and Chankillo in Peru reveal that people around the world have taken note of the sun’s northern and southern travels for more than 5,000 years. Even that’s an approximation – Earth’s atmosphere bends light over the horizon by different amounts depending on weather, which can introduce changes of more than a minute to sunrise and sunset times. It will be about a week before there’s more than a minute change to the calculated amount of daylight. This slow shift means that June 21 is only about 1 second longer than June 19 at mid-northern latitudes. This is the origin of the word solstice, which means “solar standstill.” The sun’s angle relative to Earth’s equator changes so gradually close to the solstices that, without instruments, the shift is difficult to perceive for about 10 days. Six months from now the sun will reach its southern extreme and pass overhead for people on the Tropic of Capricorn, and northerners will experience their shortest days of the year, at the winter solstice.
People living on the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north of the Equator, will see the sun pass straight overhead at noon. From Earth, the sun will appear farthest north relative to the stars. People around the world traditionally observe the change of seasons with bonfires and festivals and Fête de la Musique celebrations.Īstronomers can calculate an exact moment for the solstice, when Earth reaches the point in its orbit where the North Pole is angled closest to the sun.
It brings the longest day and shortest night of the year for the 88% of Earth’s people who live in the Northern Hemisphere. ( The Conversation) – The summer solstice marks the official start of summer.
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