I heard on the news that today is the longest day of the year, and as most of you know, that made me have questions. I’m always intrigued by things. This sent me straight to Google to learn more. I read an article where I learned a lot of things about today, and I’ll share them with you. Here’s the link where I read about these. https://www.vox.com/science/2023/6/20/23766972/summer-solstice-2023-june-21
Summer solstice 2023 marks the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere as Earth’s seasons change. Summer officially began today (June 21) at 10:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT).
The earth spins on a tilted axis, which means that for half of the year, the North Pole is pointed toward the sun, and the other half, the South Pole gets more light.
The amount of sun each of us will receive will depend on where you live. The farther north you are, the more sunlight you will see. The northernmost latitudes will see an entire 24 hours of sunlight. Most of the US will see around 14 to 16 hours of sunlight.
Just because today is the longest day of the year doesn’t necessarily mean every location had its earliest sunrise or will have its latest sunset today.
Some wonder if the solstice is the first day of Summer. The article I read shared that a Meteorologist defines Summer as the hottest three months of the year. However, astronomically speaking, Summer begins when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, which is on the solstice.
Since our planets in the solar system rotate on a tilted axis, they each have seasons. Each planet has different tilts. For comparisons: Mercury is tilted at 2.11 degrees, Earth at 23.5 degrees, and Uranus at 98 degrees.
I hope this helps explain why today is the longest day of the year. I found this information very interesting and hope you will as well.
