Summer Solstice: What Is So Special About June 21?

June 21 is the longest day and shortest night on Earth, known as the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, summer falls in December.

A solar solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky, resulting in the longest or shortest day of the year. The summer solstice marks the beginning of summer, while the winter solstice marks the beginning of winter.

The summer solstice is the longest day around more than 16 hours because the Earth’s pole tilts 23.5 degrees more towards the sun, allowing the Earth to receive more direct sunlight on its surface. The summer solstice is the first of two solstices in a year, with the second occurring in December. It always falls on June 21.

This year, the summer solstice will happen on June 21. In the UK, it’ll be at 3:58 pm BST, in the US it’ll be at 10:58 am ET / 7:58 am PT, and in India, it’ll be at 8:27 PM.

2,200 years ago, the Summer Solstice helped ancient Greeks measure Earth’s size accurately. They used poles placed 800 km apart, measuring the shadow difference at noon. In today’s times, it is just like a celestial event that sometimes amazes people.