June solstice 2011 brings northernmost sun
Tonight is Jun 21, 2011
Courtesy U.S. Naval Observatory
We use this beautiful photo today in honor of the June solstice, which happens today at 17:16 UTC (12:16 p.m. Central Daylight Time). This photo is from our favorite sky photographer Dan Bush, by the way. It’s from his gallery of sunrises and sunsets.
Everything you need to know: June solstice 2011
No world body has designated an official day to start each new season, and yet today is widely recognized as the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and beginning of winter on the southern half of Earth’s globe. The fact is that Earth’s orbit around the sun – and tilt on its axis – have brought us to a place in space where our world’s northern hemisphere has its time of greatest daylight. The northern hemisphere has its longest day. Meanwhile, today marks the shortest day south of the equator.
World map courtesy of Earth and Moon Viewer. See how it’s midday in the U.S. when this solstice takes place?
By the way, throughout the world, the solstice represents a “turning” of the year. To many cultures, the solstice can mean a limit or a culmination of something. From around the world today, the sun is now rising and setting as far north as it ever does. Today’s solstice marks the northernmost sun. By tomorrow, the sun will have begun a subtle shift southward on the sky’s dome again.
Listen to the 90-second EarthSky podcast about June’s summer solstice on the audio player at the top of this page.
Celebrate the summer solstice as the Chinese philosophers did
Why the hottest weather isn’t on the longest day
div
Everything you need to know: June solstice 2011
No world body has designated an official day to start each new season, and yet today is widely recognized as the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and beginning of winter on the southern half of Earth’s globe. The fact is that Earth’s orbit around the sun – and tilt on its axis – have brought us to a place in space where our world’s northern hemisphere has its time of greatest daylight. The northern hemisphere has its longest day. Meanwhile, today marks the shortest day south of the equator.
The day and night sides of Earth at the instant of the 2011 June 21 solstice (17:16 Universal Time)
By the way, throughout the world, the solstice represents a “turning” of the year. To many cultures, the solstice can mean a limit or a culmination of something. From around the world today, the sun is now rising and setting as far north as it ever does. Today’s solstice marks the northernmost sun. By tomorrow, the sun will have begun a subtle shift southward on the sky’s dome again.
Listen to the 90-second EarthSky podcast about June’s summer solstice on the audio player at the top of this page.
Celebrate the summer solstice as the Chinese philosophers did
Why the hottest weather isn’t on the longest day
div
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