Random musings: Happy first day of summer

Monday, June 20, 2016

Happy first day of summer

Today is the summer solstice, otherwise known as the first day of summer!

The summer solstice is actually an astronomical phenomenon that's related to the tilt of the earth. The north pole is tilted at an angle of about 23 1/2 degrees from it's axis. During summer in the northern hemisphere, the north pole is tilted towards the sun and on the day of the solstice it marks the farthest north that the sun will reach...that point, 23 1/2 degrees north of the equator is known as the Tropic of Cancer. In the southern hemisphere, today marks the first day of winter since the south pole is pointed away from the sun.

The solstice occurs sometime between June 20th and June 22nd since the earth doesn't take exactly 365 days to orbit the sun.

UT date and time of equinoxes and solstices on Earth^[1]
event	equinox		solstice		equinox		solstice
month	March		June		September		December
year
year	day	time	day	time	day	time	day	time
2010	20	17:32	21	11:28	23	03:09	21	23:38
2011	20	23:21	21	17:16	23	09:04	22	05:30
2012	20	05:14	20	23:09	22	14:49	21	11:12
2013	20	11:02	21	05:04	22	20:44	21	17:11
2014	20	16:57	21	10:51	23	02:29	21	23:03
2015	20	22:45	21	16:38	23	08:21	22	04:48
2016	20	04:30	20	22:34	22	14:21	21	10:44
2017	20	10:28	21	04:24	22	20:02	21	16:28
2018	20	16:15	21	10:07	23	01:54	21	22:23
2019	20	21:58	21	15:54	23	07:50	22	04:19
2020	20	03:50	20	21:44	22	13:31	21	10:02

I'm a summer person. I like the heat and the beach and the cold beverages and the women's clothing. I like surf music. I like the relaxed attitude.

And this year, we'll also get to enjoy a full moon which only occurs on the summer solstice every 70 years or so. The moon and the sun are supposed to be visible at the same time. So, enjoy the longest day of the year and a bright full moon to let you extend the festivities well into the night!