Astronomical summer officially begins for 2018 on the morning of Thursday, June 21 at 7:07 a.m.
I thought I would share a few fun facts with you:
- Contrary to popular belief, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. Across our region, the earliest sunrise actually occurred June 15 and the latest sunset will take place on the 26th.
- The word solstice derives from Latin, meaning “sun stands still.” This word was chosen because when the solstice occurs the sun appears to stand still in the sky.
- Because of the differences between the astronomical year, which is 365.25 days long, and the human calendar year, 365 days long, the summer solstice dates can change each year. Typically, they range from June 20 and 22.
- Earth is not the only planet to have a summer solstice. Mars’ solstice occurs a few days after Earth’s June solstice.
- Finally, on the summer solstice of 1633, Galileo was forced to recant his theory that Earth revolves around the sun!
Time to gear up for summer!
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network.
