Summer solstice

Summer solstice
Summer solstice
	Sunrise at Stonehenge in England during the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
Also called	Midsummer; the Longest Day; the Shortest Night; Estival solstice
Observed by	Various cultures
Type	Cultural, astronomical
Significance	Beginning of lengthening nights and shortening days
Date	June 20, June 21, or June 22; (Northern Hemisphere) ; and December 20, December 21, December 22, or December 23 ; (Southern Hemisphere)

The summer solstice or estival solstice[lower-roman 1] occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is the day with the longest period of daylight and shortest night of the year, when the Sun is at its highest position in the sky. At either pole there is continuous daylight at the time of its summer solstice. The opposite event is the winter solstice.

UT date and time of
equinoxes and solstices on Earth[1][2]
event	equinox		solstice		equinox		solstice
month	March[3]		June[4]		September[5]		December[6]
year	day	time	day	time	day	time	day	time
2019	20	21:58	21	15:54	23	07:50	22	04:19
2020	20	03:50	20	21:43	22	13:31	21	10:03
2021	20	09:37	21	03:32	22	19:21	21	15:59
2022	20	15:33	21	09:14	23	01:04	21	21:48
2023	20	21:25	21	14:58	23	06:50	22	03:28
2024	20	03:07	20	20:51	22	12:44	21	09:20
2025	20	09:02	21	02:42	22	18:20	21	15:03
2026	20	14:46	21	08:25	23	00:06	21	20:50
2027	20	20:25	21	14:11	23	06:02	22	02:43
2028	20	02:17	20	20:02	22	11:45	21	08:20
2029	20	08:01	21	01:48	22	17:37	21	14:14

The summer solstice occurs during the hemisphere's summer. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the June solstice (20, 21 or 22 June) and in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the December solstice (20, 21, 22 or 23 of December). Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals. Traditionally, in temperate regions (especially Europe), the summer solstice is seen as the middle of summer and referred to as midsummer; although today in some countries and calendars it is seen as the beginning of summer.

On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°.[7] Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°.

Although the summer solstice is the longest day of the year for that hemisphere, the dates of earliest sunrise and latest sunset vary by a few days.[8] This is because Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse, and its orbital speed varies slightly during the year.[7]

Culture

There is evidence that the summer solstice has been culturally important since the Neolithic era. Many ancient monuments in Europe especially, as well as parts of the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, are aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the summer solstice (see archaeoastronomy).[9][10] The significance of the summer solstice has varied among cultures, but most recognize the event in some way with holidays, festivals, and rituals around that time with themes of fertility.[11] In the Roman Empire, the traditional date of the summer solstice was 24 June.[12] In Germanic-speaking cultures, the time around the summer solstice is called 'midsummer'. Traditionally in northern Europe midsummer was reckoned as the night of 23–24 June, with summer beginning on May Day.[13] The summer solstice continues to be seen as the middle of summer in many European cultures, but in some cultures or calendars it is seen as summer's beginning.[14] In Sweden, midsummer is one of the year's major holidays when the country closes down as much as during Christmas.

Observances

Traditional festivals

Saint John's Eve (Europe), including:
- Juhannus (Finland)
- Jaanipäev (Estonia)
- Jāņi (Latvia)
- Joninės (Lithuania)
- Jónsmessa (Iceland)
- Golowan (Cornwall)
Kupala Night (Slavic peoples)
Yhyakh (Yakuts)
Tiregān (Iran)
Xiazhi (China)

Modern observances

National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada)
Day of Private Reflection (Northern Ireland)
Fremont Solstice Parade (Fremont, Seattle, Washington, United States)
Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade (Santa Barbara, California, United States)
International Yoga Day
Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day

Length of the day on northern summer solstice

The following tables contain information on the length of the day on 20 June 2016, close to the summer solstice of the Northern Hemisphere and winter solstice of the Southern Hemisphere. The data was collected from the website of the Finnish Meteorological Institute[15] as well as from certain other websites.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

The data is arranged geographically and within the tables from the longest day to the shortest one. Times that occur the next day (21 June) are marked with ⁺.

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Fennoscandia and the Baltic states
Murmansk	—	—	24 h
Apatity	—	—	24 h
Bodø	—	—	24 h
Rovaniemi	—	—	24 h
Luleå	1:00	0:05⁺	23 h 04 min
Arkhangelsk	1:34	23:04	21 h 30 min
Reykjavík	2:55	0:03⁺	21 h 08 min
Trondheim	3:02	23:37	20 h 35 min
Tórshavn	3:36	23:21	19 h 45 min
Petrozavodsk	2:55	22:33	19 h 38 min
Helsinki	3:54	22:49	18 h 55 min
Saint Petersburg	3:35	22:25	18 h 50 min
Oslo	3:53	22:43	18 h 49 min
Tallinn	4:03	22:42	18 h 39 min
Stockholm	3:30	22:07	18 h 37 min
Riga	4:29	22:21	17 h 52 min
Copenhagen	4:25	21:57	17 h 32 min
Vilnius	4:41	21:59	17 h 17 min

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Europe
Edinburgh	4:26	22:02	17 h 36 min
Moscow	3:44	21:17	17 h 33 min
Berlin	4:43	21:33	16 h 49 min
Warsaw	4:14	21:00	16 h 46 min
London	4:43	21:21	16 h 38 min
Kyiv	4:46	21:12	16 h 26 min
Paris	5:46	21:57	16 h 10 min
Vienna	4:53	20:58	16 h 04 min
Budapest	4:46	20:44	15 h 58 min
Zürich	5:29	21:25	15 h 56 min
Rome	5:34	20:48	15 h 13 min
Madrid	6:44	21:48	15 h 03 min
Lisbon	6:11	21:04	14 h 52 min
Athens	6:02	20:50	14 h 48 min

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Africa
Cairo	4:54	18:59	14 h 04 min
Tenerife	7:08	21:05	13 h 57 min
Dakar	6:41	19:41	12 h 59 min
Addis Ababa	6:07	18:46	12 h 38 min
Nairobi	6:32	18:35	12 h 02 min
Kinshasa	6:04	17:56	11 h 52 min
Dar es Salaam	6:32	18:16	11 h 43 min
Luanda	6:20	17:56	11 h 36 min
Jamestown	6:49	17:59	11 h 10 min
Antananarivo	6:21	17:21	10 h 59 min
Windhoek	6:30	17:15	10 h 44 min
Johannesburg	6:54	17:24	10 h 29 min
Cape Town	7:51	17:44	9 h 53 min

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Middle East
Tehran	5:48	20:23	14 h 34 min
Beirut	5:27	19:52	14 h 24 min
Baghdad	4:53	19:14	14 h 21 min
Jerusalem	5:33	19:47	14 h 13 min
Manama	4:45	18:32	13 h 46 min
Doha	4:44	18:26	13 h 42 min
Dubai	5:29	19:11	13 h 42 min
Riyadh	5:04	18:44	13 h 39 min
Muscat	5:19	18:55	13 h 35 min
Sana'a	5:33	18:35	13 h 02 min

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Americas
Inuvik	—	—	24 h
Fairbanks	2:57	0:47⁺	21 h 49 min
Nuuk	2:53	0:03⁺	21 h 09 min
Iqaluit	2:11	23:00	20 h 49 min
Anchorage	4:20	23:41	19 h 21 min
Kodiak	5:07	23:14	18 h 06 min
Sitka	4:06	22:00	17 h 54 min
Unalaska	6:34	23:41	17 h 06 min
Edmonton	5:04	22:07	17 h 02 min
Winnipeg	5:19	21:40	16 h 21 min
Vancouver	5:06	21:21	16 h 14 min
Seattle	5:11	21:10	15 h 59 min
Ottawa	5:14	20:54	15 h 40 min
Toronto	5:35	21:02	15 h 26 min
New York	5:24	20:30	15 h 05 min
Washington, D.C.	5:42	20:36	14 h 53 min
Los Angeles	5:42	20:07	14 h 25 min
Miami	6:30	20:14	13 h 44 min
Havana	6:44	20:17	13 h 33 min
Honolulu	5:50	19:16	13 h 25 min
Mexico City	6:59	20:17	13 h 18 min
Kingston	5:32	18:45	13 h 13 min
Bridgetown	5:33	18:27	12 h 54 min
Managua	5:21	18:11	12 h 50 min
Port of Spain	5:45	18:30	12 h 45 min
Georgetown	5:38	18:09	12 h 31 min
Bogotá	5:46	18:09	12 h 23 min
Quito	6:12	18:19	12 h 06 min
Lima	6:27	17:52	11 h 24 min
La Paz	6:59	18:08	11 h 08 min
Rio de Janeiro	6:32	17:16	10 h 43 min
São Paulo	6:47	17:28	10 h 40 min
Porto Alegre	7:20	17:32	10 h 12 min
Santiago	7:46	17:42	9 h 56 min
Buenos Aires	8:00	17:50	9 h 49 min
Ushuaia	9:58	17:11	7 h 12 min

City	Sunrise 20 June 2016	Sunset 20 June 2016	Length of the day
Asia and Oceania
Provideniya	0:52	22:16	21 h 23 min
Magadan	3:37	22:19	18 h 41 min
Petropavlovsk	4:58	21:55	16 h 56 min
Khabarovsk	4:57	21:04	16 h 07 min
Ulaanbaatar	5:52	21:54	16 h 01 min
Vladivostok	5:32	20:55	15 h 22 min
Beijing	4:45	19:46	15 h 00 min
Seoul	5:11	19:56	14 h 46 min
Tokyo	4:25	19:00	14 h 34 min
Shanghai	4:50	19:01	14 h 10 min
Lhasa	6:55	20:58	14 h 03 min
Delhi	5:23	19:21	13 h 58 min
Kathmandu	5:08	19:02	13 h 53 min
Taipei	5:04	18:46	13 h 41 min
Hong Kong	5:39	19:09	13 h 30 min
Manila	5:27	18:27	12 h 59 min
Bangkok	5:51	18:47	12 h 56 min
Singapore	7:00	19:12	12 h 11 min
Jakarta	6:01	17:47	11 h 45 min
Darwin	7:06	18:29	11 h 23 min
Papeete	6:27	17:32	11 h 04 min
Sydney	6:59	16:53	9 h 53 min
Auckland	7:33	17:11	9 h 37 min
Melbourne	7:35	17:07	9 h 32 min
Dunedin	8:19	16:59	8 h 39 min

The length of day increases from the equator towards the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere in June (around the summer solstice there), but decreases towards the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere at the time of the southern winter solstice.

Notes

Also aestival solstice in British English. From Latin aestīvus, 'summer'.

References

Astronomical Applications Department of USNO. "Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion". Retrieved 2022-08-01.
"Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100". AstroPixels.com. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
Équinoxe de printemps entre 1583 et 2999
Solstice d’été de 1583 à 2999
Équinoxe d’automne de 1583 à 2999
Solstice d’hiver
"The Long Story (USNO explanation)". Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
"US Naval Observatory: Sunrise and Sunset Times Near the Solstices". Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
Papadopoulos, Costas; Moyes, Holley, eds. (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology. Oxford University Press.
Kelley, David; Milone, Eugene (2005). Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy. Springer Publishing.
"Summer solstice celebrations of Christianity, Judaism, Neopaganism, etc". Religioustolerance.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
O'Neill, William Matthew (1976). Time and the Calendars. Manchester University Press. p. 85.
Harper, Douglas. "midsummer". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
"The Astronomical vs. Meteorological Seasons". Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
"Paikallissää Helsinki" [Local weather in Helsinki] (in Finnish). Finnish Meteorological Institute. 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
"Jamestown, Saint Helena". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Fairbanks". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Nuuk". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Iqaluit". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Sitka". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Unalaska". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Provideniya". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Katmandu". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Edmonton, Canada". Retrieved 2016-06-22.
"Inuvik, Canada". Retrieved 2020-12-19.
"Winnipeg, Canada". Retrieved 2021-07-31.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[7] Also aestival solstice in British English. From Latin aestīvus, 'summer'.

[USNO-1] Astronomical Applications Department of USNO. "Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion". Retrieved 2022-08-01.

[2] "Solstices and Equinoxes: 2001 to 2100". AstroPixels.com. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.

[3] Équinoxe de printemps entre 1583 et 2999

[4] Solstice d’été de 1583 à 2999

[5] Équinoxe d’automne de 1583 à 2999

[6] Solstice d’hiver

[LongStory-8] "The Long Story (USNO explanation)". Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.

[9] "US Naval Observatory: Sunrise and Sunset Times Near the Solstices". Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.

[10] Papadopoulos, Costas; Moyes, Holley, eds. (2021). The Oxford Handbook of Light in Archaeology. Oxford University Press.

[11] Kelley, David; Milone, Eugene (2005). Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy. Springer Publishing.

[12] "Summer solstice celebrations of Christianity, Judaism, Neopaganism, etc". Religioustolerance.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-06-20.

[13] O'Neill, William Matthew (1976). Time and the Calendars. Manchester University Press. p. 85.

[14] Harper, Douglas. "midsummer". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2023-06-22.

[15] "The Astronomical vs. Meteorological Seasons". Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-11-13.

[16] "Paikallissää Helsinki" [Local weather in Helsinki] (in Finnish). Finnish Meteorological Institute. 2016-06-20. Retrieved 2016-06-20.

[17] "Jamestown, Saint Helena". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[18] "Fairbanks". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[19] "Nuuk". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[20] "Iqaluit". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[21] "Sitka". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[22] "Unalaska". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[23] "Provideniya". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[24] "Katmandu". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[25] "Edmonton, Canada". Retrieved 2016-06-22.

[26] "Inuvik, Canada". Retrieved 2020-12-19.

[27] "Winnipeg, Canada". Retrieved 2021-07-31.