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06/20/2024
7 Summer Solstice Facts
Let’s get on with some fun facts about the June solstice:
“Solstice” comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). On the summer solstice, the Sun’s path stops advancing northward each day and appears to stop in the sky before going back the other way.
On the solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, reaching the Tropic of Cancer and standing still before reversing direction and starting to move south again. (See illustration above.) In fact, that’s how the Tropic of Cancer got its name. A few thousand years ago, the solstice happened when the Sun was in the constellation of Cancer the Crab.
On the summer solstice, you may observe that the Sun’s path across the sky is curved—NOT a straight line. It appears to rise and keeps veering to the right as it passes high overhead. This is quite different from the laser-straight path the Sun moves along in late March and late September, near the equinoxes.
You may also observe that the midday Sun is highest up in the sky (or, lowest if you live in the Southern Hemisphere). But did you know that the Sun’s highest point is getting lower and lower over time? That’s because Earth’s tilt is slowly decreasing.
It may be the “longest day,” but it’s not the latest sunset or the earliest sunrise! The earliest sunrises happen before the summer solstice, and the latest sunsets happen after the summer solstice. See it for yourself wherever you live.
In India, the summer solstice ends the six-month period when spiritual growth is supposedly easiest. Better hurry, you only have a few days left!
On this day, the Sun rises farthest left on the horizon and sets at its rightmost possible spot. Sunlight strikes places in your home that get illuminated at no other time.
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