view of the sun shining through hazy cloud with people in the foreground looking towards the sun, one person has both of their hands raised to the sky.

Summer solstice 2024 marks the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere

Summer time formally begins within the Northern Hemisphere immediately (June 20), marking the longest day of the 12 months. 

Throughout the summer time solstice, also referred to as the June solstice, the solar reaches its highest and northernmost level within the sky. It marks the start of the summer time season within the Northern Hemisphere and winter within the Southern Hemisphere, with the Northern Hemisphere receiving probably the most sunlight hours of the 12 months, and the Southern Hemisphere receiving the least.

You may calculate what number of hours of daylight you may obtain throughout the June solstice utilizing The Farmer’s Almanac Dawn and Sundown Calculator. These situated above the Arctic Circle will expertise the longest day. There, the solar does not set under the horizon for a number of weeks and even months over the summer time as a result of phenomenon referred to as the midnight solar.

Associated: The solar’s magnetic area is about to flip. This is what to anticipate.

 This 12 months the summer time solstice formally happens at 4:51 p.m. EDT (2051 GMT,) it is going to be adopted by a full Strawberry Moon at some point in a while June 21. The moon will attain its full section at 9:08 p.m. EDT (or  01:08 GMT on Saturday, June 22), however will nonetheless seem full the evening earlier than and after its peak to the informal stargazer. It should shine close to the celebrities of the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer. 

The Northern Hemisphere will expertise the summer time solstice on June 20.  (Picture credit score: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night time)

What causes the June solstice? 

We owe the June solstice, together with the seasons to Earth’s tilt because it orbits the solar. With out it, each the Northern and Southern Hemispheres would obtain equal gentle all year long. 

Diagram depicting Earth’s orbit of the solar and the axial rotation that causes the seasons. (Picture credit score: Created in Canva by Daisy Dobrijevic)

As Earth orbits the solar, the axial tilt of 23.44° causes one hemisphere to be tilted towards the solar for half of the 12 months and the opposite for the second half. Throughout the June solstice the Northern Hemisphere is most tilted in the direction of the solar whereas the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away.

The solstices additionally don’t happen on the identical day yearly as a result of the astronomical 12 months is 365.25 days lengthy. As such, the summer time solstice for the Northern Hemisphere at the moment shifts between June 20, 21 and 22. The summer time solstice does, nonetheless, happen on the identical time for each nation. This implies the precise second of summer time solstice can happen in the course of the evening for some individuals and the center of the day for others. 

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