U13 2012

Welcome to Summer!

The summer solstice is at 7:09 p.m today. Do you know what solstice means? 'Stopped Sun".

At that precise moment, the sun is shining more directly on the northern hemisphere than at any other time of the year.  The sun now rises 68 degrees above the horizon, compared to just 21.2 degrees on the first day of winter.

Wednesday is the year’s longest day, at 15 hours, 40 minutes and 29 seconds. On Thursday we can get depressed as the days start getting shorter: The day will be one second shorter. Read more




























Did you know?

• The point where the sun appears overhead on this date each year is moving and heading south, at a few metres per year, because the Earth wobbles slightly on its axis on a 26,000-year cycle. It will eventually shift back.
• While maps commonly show the Tropic of Cancer 23.5 degrees north of the equator, that’s a long-term average. For now it’s actually just above 23.4 degrees.
  
• The solstice can come anytime from late on June 20 to early June 22, because our timekeeping (in days) doesn’t match the year exactly. Earth circles the sun in 365 plus a fraction of a day, so we throw in a leap year now and then, and this constantly rearranges the date when each season begins.

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