The summer solstice is understood to mark the middle of summer – although here in Manchester it may seem like we have not had the first half yet.
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This year’s solstice is extra special because there will be a full moon tonight. People in thousands assemble at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, every year to celebrate the prospects of sunny summer days.
During the winter solstice, the Earth’s axis is tilted furthest away from the sun directly over the Tropic of Capricorn bringing only a few hours of daylight.
This year will also see the first full moon, in almost 50 years, coincide with the solstice.
The days will get shorter beginning Tuesday until December 21, the winter solstice. And while it’s the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere as folks down there are bundling up for winter.
Today is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere with 15 hours and 21 minutes of daylight in Grand Rapids. Because the sun is so high, the moon will be low, its light coming through thicker air, which is often humid at this time of year, and creating an amber-coloured moon.
As for the “strawberry moon”, he added: “Full moon for Singapore was two days ago, there won’t be any discernible difference for Singaporeans”.
In the Antarctic Circle, the June solstice is marked by the complete absence of sunlight, the website continues.
The last time there was a full moon on the summer solstice was during the Summer of Love, 1967.
The June solstice this year begins on Monday at 22:34 UT, or 6:34 p.m.
Here is everything you need to know about the summer solstice 2016.
It has links to many ancient cultural practices as different cultures have celebrated it being symbolic of renewal, fertility and harvest. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, June 21, 2016.
Although Earth’s distance from the Sun does change throughout a year, this only causes a small difference in the amount of energy the planet receives from the Sun, and thus this difference has very little effect on our seasons.
Heavy rain and grey skies have marred the astronomical beginning of summer.
The word solstice comes from Latin.
The seasons of the year are directly connected to both the solstices and the equinoxes.
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The term applies to the point when the Sun reaches its northernmost or most southerly position.
