Does the Solstice Always Occur on the Same Day? It is meant solely as a tool to demonstrate how sunlight falls on Earth at the four seasonal points in its orbit. Note: This image does not represent the true shape of Earth’s orbit, which is an almost circular ellipse, or the exact location of the Sun, which would be slightly off center. Of course, the Sun itself is not moving (unless you consider its orbit around the Milky Way galaxy) instead, this change in position in the sky that we on Earth notice is caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis as it orbits the Sun, as well as Earth’s elliptical, rather than circular, orbit. Over the year, its path forms a sort of flattened figure eight, called an analemma. The motion referred to here is the apparent path of the Sun when one views its position in the sky at the same time each day, for example, at local noon. The June solstice is significant because the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky at this time, at which point the Sun’s path does not change for a brief period of time.Īfter the solstice, the Sun appears to reverse course and head back in the opposite direction.

Also, the Sun’s track in the sky becomes higher or lower throughout the year.

Due to Earth’s tilted axis, the Sun doesn’t rise and set at the same locations on the horizon each morning and evening its rise and set positions move northward or southward in the sky as Earth travels around the Sun through the year. The term “solstice” comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). (In contrast, the June solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky, marking the start of winter.) It marks the start of summer in the northern half of the globe. In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter. (By longest “day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight hours.) On the day of the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year. This solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. When Do the Seasons Start and End in 2023?

Solstice and equinox 2018