Community Corner

Today's Officially Summer: So What Exactly is the Summer Solstice?

Summer officially began at 12:16 p.m. this afternoon. So what does that mean, exactly?

Yeah, it may not really feel like it, but at 12:16 p.m. this afternoon, summer officially began with an annual phenomenon called the summer solstice.

For most people, the summer solstice means little. Here in the northern hemisphere, today is the longest day of the year. But other than a good, long day to work on a tan, what does it really mean?

On the day of the summer solstice, the earth's axial tilt is inclined toward the sun more than any other day of the year. Technically speaking, the tilt on this day peaks at 23° 26'. Because of this, there is a maximum of sunlight seconds on the day of the summer solstice for those of us living north of the equator.

In Lakeville today, the sun rose at 5:27 a.m. and will set at 9:02 p.m. according to sunrisesunset.com.That's a whopping 15 hours and 34 minutes of daylight.

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If you like it, soak it in, because by the end of summer, which is the autumnal equinox on Sept. 21—roughly 90 days away—the sun will rise at 6:58 a.m. and set at 7:15 p.m, giving us just 12 hours and 17 minutes of daylight.

Careful not to mark your calendar for a June 21 celebration every year though, as the solstice can change slightly with our 365-day year not perfectly matching the universe's plan for planetary permutation. Next year, for example, the summer solstice will be on June 20.

And according to Ian O'Neill, a scientist and contributor with Discovery News, the summer solstice is also a great reminder about how lucky we are to be living on a planet with a tilt.

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If the Earth was oriented vertically with no tilt to its orbit around the sun, the equator would always have the sun directly overhead and the poles would be in perpetual twilight.

That may not sound like a big deal, but it would mean no seasons. "Every day would be a summer solstice for the equator and winter solstice for the poles," he wrote. "There would be no seasons, and the world as we know it would be a very different place: a lifeless desert around the equator and frozen poles equally as hostile to life.

"I suspect there would be some pretty nasty weather in between; hot and cold air forming a huge cell of violent circulating air dominating the hemispheres," he wrote.

Lucky, indeed.


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