solsticesday

[solsticesday]

The June solstice occurs on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at 10:58 A.M. EDT. 

Summer begins with the solstice on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

The June Solstice

In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun travels along its northernmost path in the sky. This marks the astronomical start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the June solstice marks the astronomical start of winter when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky.)

What exactly IS the solstice? Is it really the longest day of the year? Welcome the solstice with some interesting facts and folklore.

#northern hemisphere's winter solstice #meteorological seasons #astronomical seasons #summer solstice #start of the summer season #June Solstice

[solsticesday]

7 things to know about the longest day of the year.

The summer solstice is upon us: Wednesday, June 21, is the longest day of 2023, and the start of the summer season, for anyone living north of the equator.

Technically speaking, the summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5 degrees north latitude. This will occur at exactly 10:57 am Eastern Wednesday. If you’re a fan of sunlight, wearing shorts, eating ice cream, and enjoying all summer has to offer, this is likely a big day for you.

The purple petals of the corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) glow in the late evening sunset in a field in eastern Brandenburg.

#summer solstice #sunset #northern hemisphere's winter solstice #start of the summer season #Tropic of Cancer #sun appears

[solsticesday]

This year’s Southern Hemisphere winter solstice will occur at 12:58 am AEST on Thursday, June 22.

Due to the angle of the solar terminator at the winter solstice, Adelaide and Townsville experience sunset within a couple of minutes of each other. For comparison, their sunsets are more than one hour apart on the summer solstice in late December.

Following next week’s winter solstice, days will start to become longer, and nights will get shorter for the next six months, until the date of the summer solstice on December 22.

#shortest day of the year #longest night of the year #solstices #winter solstice #earth"s south pole #southern hemisphere #Mount Hotham #winter sun

[solsticesday]

The Earth’s angle relative to the sun on the date of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice.

The winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere marks the moment the Earth’s South Pole reaches its furthest tilt away from the Sun. On the date of the winter solstice, all of Australia experiences its shortest day of the year based on daylight hours and its longest night of the year based on darkness hours.

#winter solstice #earth"s south pole #solstices and equinoxes #shortest day of the year #longest night of the year #daylight #sun appears #earth’s axis of rotation #astronomical seasons #autumnal equinoxes

[solsticesday]

Winter solstice is commemorated worldwide. But what exactly is it? And why does it happen?

The winter sun sets over Mount Hotham, Victoria.

Put simply, the winter solstice is the shortest day (and longest night) of the year. But there's a lot more to it than that.

#shortest day of the year #longest night of the year #solstices #winter solstice #earth"s south pole #southern hemisphere #Mount Hotham #winter sun

[solsticesday]

 Tracking the lows affecting NZ & Australia for the winter solstice.

The winter solstice is Thursday at 2:57am in New Zealand (mainland), 12:57am for the eastern side of Australia and 10:57pm tonight for Western Australia.

It’s the longest night of the year tonight for New Zealand & Australia with a fairly unsettled weather pattern impacting a number of populated places across both nations.

The wind and rain is being driven by a series of lows moving from west to east – with powerful highs to the north and to our east slowing them down and making them linger for days.

The lows aren’t overly stormy, but interacting with the highs is making for squash zones and gales, and pockets of heavy rain.

We track the wettest and driest areas – and the general weather them over the next week.

#wind and rain #longest night of the year #australia #New zealand #southern hemisphere #earth"s south pole #heavy rain #winter solstice #21 june #Weatherwatch

[solsticesday]

Winter solstice to kick off on Thursday across Australia as temperatures drop.

The shortest day of the year is approaching, with Australia to experience less than 10 hours of sunlight and shiver through freezing temperatures this week.

The winter solstice will occur this Thursday, marking the day with the shortest amount of sunlight and the longest night of the year.

It is measured by the day that the Earth’s South Pole tilts the furthest away from the sun, bringing with it plenty of night time and limited time in the sun.

#southern hemisphere #australia #winter solstice #shortest day of the year #Earth’s South Pole #the sun #night time

[solsticesday]

What Exactly Is the Winter Solstice, and When Is It Coming to Australia?

The solstice is one of those events that comes around every year, but maybe you’re not fully aware of what it actually means. Let’s break it down.

#winter solstice #southern hemisphere #australia #temperature #shortest day of the year

[solsticesday]

Australians will be plunged into darkness for much of Thursday with the shortest day of the year upon us.

This Thursday, June 22, is the winter solstice, which is the shortest day — and longest night — of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun is set to rise about 7am and set around 5pm across the east of the country. As temperatures plummet across the country, Australians are rugging up as we head into winter, with the season’s solstice occurring this week.

Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>

Winter solstice 2023: Australia's shortest day of year.

#winter solstice #southern hemisphere #australia #shortest day of the year

[solsticesday]

The Earth's slight tilt is what gives us our seasons.

Thursday will be the 'shortest day' of 2023. Here's why winter solstice might seem out of sync with the seasons.

#winter solstice #southern hemisphere #australia #'shortest day #21 june

[solsticesday]

The solstice through history.

People watch the midsummer sun rise over the megalithic monument of Stonehenge on June 21, 2005, in Salisbury Plain, England. Crowds gathered at the ancient stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER MACDIARMID, 

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 5,000-year-old monument has a famously special relationship with the solstices. On the summer solstice, the complex’s Heel Stone, which stands outside Stonehenge’s main circle, lines up with the rising sun.

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 22.5 hours of daylight in the summer. The Midnight Sun Game has been played since 1906.

The winter solstice has had its share of celebrations, too. On June 24, in time with the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice, the Inca Empire celebrated Inti Raymi, a festival that honored the Inca religion’s powerful sun god Inti and marked the Inca new year. The festival is still celebrated throughout the Andes, and since 1944, 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. The festival—a mainstay since Zoroastrianism was Iran’s dominant religion—traditionally honors the birth of Mithra, the ancient Persian goddess of light.

#summer solstice #International Day of the celebration of the Solstices #21 june #megalithic #daylight #sunlight #winter solstice

[solsticesday]

Do other planets experience solstices? 

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’s axial tilt plays a much bigger role than its near-circular orbit in governing annual seasons. 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.

#Solstices #The sun #International Day of the celebration of the solstices #21 June #sun appears #Southern Hemisphere #sunlight #Interplanetary seasons #Science Mission Directorate #earth #mars #venus #solstices and equinoxes

[solsticesday]

What are solstices?

Solstices occur because Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted about 23.4 degrees relative to Earth's orbit around the sun. This tilt drives our planet's seasons, as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres get unequal amounts of sunlight over the course of a year. From March to September, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun, driving its spring and summer. From September to March, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away, so it feels like autumn and winter. The Southern Hemisphere's seasons are reversed.

On two moments each year—what are called solstices—Earth's axis is tilted most closely toward the sun. The hemisphere tilted most toward our home star sees its longest day, while the hemisphere tilted away from the sun sees its longest night.

During the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice—which always falls around December 22—the Southern Hemisphere gets its summer solstice. During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice—which always falls around June 21—the Southern Hemisphere gets its winter solstice.

You can also think about solstices in terms of where on Earth the sun appears. When it’s a summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun appears directly over the Tropic of Cancer, the latitude line at 23.5 degrees North. (That’s as far north as you can go and still see the sun directly overhead.) During the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice, the sun appears directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, the Tropic of Cancer’s southern mirror image.

#Solstices #Earth’s axis of rotation #The sun #Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice #International Day of the celebration of the solstices #21 June #Tropic of Cancer #sun appears #Southern Hemisphere #Northern Hemisphere #summer solstice #winter solstice #sunlight #Tropic of Capricorn

[solsticesday]

Learn about the difference between astronomical and meteorological seasons.

Traditionally, summer and winter solstices helped mark the changing of the seasons—along with their counterparts, the spring and autumnal equinoxes. However, today’s meteorologists officially use temperature records instead to draw lines between the seasons. So what exactly are solstices—and how have they been celebrated throughout history? Here’s all you need to know.

#meteorological seasons #autumnal equinoxes #solstices #summer solstice #winter solstice #astronomical seasons

[solsticesday]

Summer Solstice 2023: Sunset Live from Stonehenge.

This year, the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice falls on June 21 at 10:57 a.m. EST. South of the Equator, this same moment marks the unofficial beginning of winter. Solstices occur at the same time around the world, but their local times vary with time zones. 

#summer solstice #stonehenge #livestream #International Day of the celebration of the solstices #21 June #Youtube

[solsticesday]

Misconceptions about the solstices.

If solstices mark the brightest and darkest days of the year, why don’t temperatures reflect that?

In short, it’s because it takes time for Earth’s land and water to heat up and cool down. In the U.S., the year’s coldest temperatures set in after-mid January, roughly a month after the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice. Likewise, thermometers hit their high in the U.S. in July and August, weeks after the summer solstice.

Some believe, too, that since Earth’s rotation is slowing down, each new solstice sets a new record for daytime length. But that’s not the case.

It’s certainly true that Earth’s rotation has slowed over billions of years, as Earth loses angular momentum to our planet’s tides. Growth lines on fossil corals show that more than 400 million years ago, days on Earth lasted less than 22 hours.

But Earth’s gradual slowing down isn’t the only factor at play. Picture a figure skater twirling on their skates; they can speed up or slow down their twirls by how much they tuck in their limbs. In much the same way, changes in the distribution of Earth’s mass—from the winds of El Niño to the melting of Greenland’s ice—can subtly tweak our planet’s rotation rate.

Taking all this into account, it’s thought that the longest day since the 1830s occurred sometime in 1912. It lasted less than four milliseconds longer than the recent average.

#Earth’s rotation #Earth’s gradual #brightest and darkest days #northern hemisphere's winter solstice #southern hemisphere #winter solstice #solstices #sun appears #the sun #sunlight #International Day of the celebration of the Solstices #21 june