Summer Solstice - june 21st

The longest day of the summer marks the beginning of winters in a disguise!

Today the sun is going to shine bright and high! The summer solstice has made its way and is surely going to stay with us keeping us warm all day through.


Every year the historic ‘June 21’ is observed as the longest day in the year. June 21st is the day when the earth’s axis is closest to the sun making it the longest day. “This day the earth is closest to the sun in the northern hemisphere marking the summer solstice (A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes) and this day will also be observed as the shortest in the Southern Hemisphere,” says Professor Shukre, Director of Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium.

Every year as the earth revolves around the sun, it marks the longest day i.e. today, when the earth’s axis tilts towards the sun and the shortest day comes exactly after six months which will be seen on December 21st, that's when the earth is tilted furthest away from the sun. “And once in every three months the day and the night have equal number of hours,” says Professor Shukre.