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It may seem strange that the northern hemisphere is closer to the sun during the winter and farther away during summer! However, the seasons are determined primarily by the tilt of the earth, not the distance between the earth and the sun. The earth is tilted on its axis approximately 23.5˚ relative to its orbital plane around the sun. When a hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, that hemisphere receives more direct sunlight and experiences summer. At the same time, the other hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and receives less direct sunlight, experiencing winter. The northern hemisphere is more directly exposed to the sun’s rays during June and July (summer in the northern hemisphere, SF Fig. 6.11 A). The southern hemisphere receives less direct sunlight during these months, resulting in winter. Exposure to direct sunlight alternates as the earth revolves in its orbit around the sun. The southern hemisphere is most directly exposed to the sun’s rays in December and January (SF Fig. 6.11 B). During this time the northern hemisphere experiences winter as it is receiving indirect sunlight.
Even though the tilt of the earth is responsible for the seasons, the elliptical orbit of the earth moderates the northern hemisphere's winters and summers. This means the temperatures of the northern hemisphere’s winters and summers are not as extreme as could be. In the southern hemisphere, the opposite effect occurs, with more extreme winters and summers.
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The sun rises farthest north on the horizon – and is highest in the sky at local noon – at the summer solstice.
What is it? The June solstice marks the sun’s northernmost point in our sky for this year.
When is the next one? The next June solstice will fall on at 9:14 UTC (4:14 a.m. CDT) on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
Note: On this solstice, the sun will be directly overhead at noon as viewed from the Tropic of Cancer. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the shortest nights and longest days of the year. For the Southern Hemisphere, it marks the longest nights and shortest days. After this solstice, the sun will be moving southward in the sky again.
What is a solstice?
Ancient cultures knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year.
In fact, they built monuments such as Stonehenge in England and at Machu Picchu in Peru to follow the sun’s yearly progress.
Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and by its orbital motion around the sun.
Indeed, the Earth doesn’t orbit upright. Instead, our world is tilted on its axis by 23 1/2 degrees. Through the year, this tilt causes Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres to trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly. In fact, our planet is closest to the sun in January, during the the Northern Hemisphere’s winter.
Where should I look for signs of the June solstice in nature?
Everywhere.
For all of Earth’s creatures, nothing is so fundamental as the length of the day. After all, the sun is the ultimate source of almost all light and warmth on Earth’s surface.
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you might notice the early dawns and late sunsets, and the high arc of the sun across the sky each day. You might see how high the sun appears in the sky at local noon. And, also be sure to look at your noontime shadow. Around the time of the solstice, it’s your shortest noontime shadow of the year.
If you’re a person who’s tuned in to the out-of-doors, you know the peaceful, comforting feeling that accompanies these signs and signals of the year’s longest day.
Is the June solstice the first day of summer?
No world body has designated an official day to start each new season, and different schools of thought or traditions define the seasons in different ways.
In meteorology, for example, summer begins on June 1. And every schoolchild knows that summer starts when the last school bell of the year rings.
Yet June 21 is perhaps the most widely recognized day upon which summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere and upon which winter begins on the southern half of Earth’s globe. There’s nothing official about it, but it’s such a long-held tradition that we all recognize it to be so.
It has been universal among humans to treasure this time of warmth and light.
For us in the modern world, the solstice is a time to recall the reverence and understanding that early people had for the sky. Some 5,000 years ago, people placed huge stones in a circle on a broad plain in what’s now England and aligned them with the June solstice sunrise.
We may never comprehend the full significance of Stonehenge. But we do know that knowledge of this sort wasn’t limited to just one part of the world. Around the same time Stonehenge was being constructed in England, two great pyramids and then the Sphinx were built on Egyptian sands. If you stood at the Sphinx on the summer solstice and gazed toward the two pyramids, you’d see the sun set exactly between them.
Why doesn’t the longest day have the hottest weather?
People often ask:
If the June solstice brings the longest day, why do we experience the hottest weather in late July and August?
This effect is called the lag of the seasons. It’s the same reason it’s hotter in mid-afternoon than at noontime. Earth just takes a while to warm up after a long winter. Even in June, ice and snow still blanket the ground in some places. The sun has to melt the ice – and warm the oceans – and then we feel the most sweltering summer heat.
Ice and snow have been melting since spring began. Meltwater and rainwater have been percolating down through snow on tops of glaciers.
But the runoff from glaciers isn’t as great now as it’ll be in another month, even though sunlight is striking the Northern Hemisphere most directly around now.
So wait another month for the hottest weather. It’ll come when the days are already beginning to shorten again, as Earth continues to move in orbit around the sun, bringing us closer to another winter.
And so the cycle continues.
Bottom line: The 2022 June solstice happens on June 21 at 09:14 UTC. That’s June 21 04:14 a.m. CDT in North America. This solstice – the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere – marks the sun’s most northerly point in Earth’s sky.
Visit EarthSky Tonight for easy-to-use night sky charts and info. Updated daily.
Celebrate the summer solstice as the Chinese philosophers did
Why the hottest weather isn’t on the longest day