For the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice signals the beginning of summer. For the Southern Hemisphere, winter starts at this solstice. The 2024 June solstice will happen on June 20 at 20:51 UTC. That's 3:51 p.m. CDT in North America. The solstice happens at the same instant for all of us, everywhere on Earth; only our clocks differ by time zone.
What is Solstice?
Over the course of each year, the Sun's path across the sky changes a little bit each year. Depending on what time of year it i,s that path is always getting a little bit higher or lower in the sky. Except on the solstices.
The solstices are the moments in June and December when that movement stops and the Sun's path starts heading in the other direction. This apparent shift and the seasons themselves are caused by Earth's tilt as it orbits the Sun.
What's actually shifting is the angle of your view toward the Sun depending on how far north or south of the equator you live. Most planets in our solar system have seasons, and solstices, too. At Mars, instead of every six months, the solstices are just under one Earth-year apart.
Astronomy has been important to people for thousands of years. The ancient construction known as Stonehenge in England may have been designed, among other purposes, to pay special honor to the solstices and equinoxes. These are the times and locations during Earth's journey around the Sun that we humans have long used to mark our seasons.
Happy June Solstice, Skywatchers!
#Junesostice #seasons #Earth
Images credit: NASA/JPL, nemesis maturity channel
Music credit: KZfaq Audio Library
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