NORFOLK, Va. — This Thursday, June 20, is the summer solstice and marks the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the longest day of the year, clocking in at over 15 hours of daylight!
The Earth revolves around the sun in a counterclockwise orbit that takes 365¼ days to complete, a full year.
The shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, usually occurs on or around December 21, while the equinoxes, or days with equal daylight and night, occur on or around March and September 20.
Since the earth is tilted on its axis, the Northern Hemisphere faces the sun in summer, getting more of the direct solar rays and heating us up.
This year, the summer solstice occurs at 4:50 p.m. EDT, the precise moment the sun’s rays are over the Tropic of Cancer.
Solstice comes from the Latin terms sol, which means sun, and sistere, which means to stand still, as it appears the sun’s peak elevation doesn’t move for a few days on either side of the solstice.
The sun is at its highest point in the sky, and the amount of daylight totals 15 hours and 17 minutes.
From here on out, the days will get shorter until we reach the winter solstice in December when we receive about 9 hours and 5 minutes of daylight.