Longest Day of Year Ushers in Summer

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Today is the first day of summer, the longest day of the year.

The days will now begin to slowly grow shorter, with less daylight until the December solstice.

Today, Anderson can expect 14 hours and 25 minutes of daylight. By the first day of autumn in September, that will be down to 12 hours of daylight. At the winter solstice in December, that will be down to around nine hours and 43 minutes of daylight.

The summer solstice, also known as the festival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky and is the day with the longest period of daylight. Within the Arctic circle (for the northern hemisphere) or Antarctic circle (for the southern hemisphere), there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice. On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°.

The summer solstice occurs during summer. This is the June solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the December solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The same dates in the opposite hemisphere are referred to as the winter solstice.

Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals. Traditionally, in many temperate regions (especially Europe), the summer solstice is seen as the middle of summer and referred to as "midsummer