What is the longest day of the year?
The longest day of the year, called the summer solstice, occurs each year in the northern hemisphere in June 20th or 21st. The name “solstice” comes from the Latin word “sol” which means sun and sistere, which means motionless. The day passes when the sun is precisely above the tropic of cancer, which is the northernmost point that the sun can reach by turning around the earth. On this day, the sun does not rise from the east and sets in the west as it normally does. Instead, it rises north of the east and sets in the north of the west and can therefore be observed for several hours. As the solstice occurs very early in the morning in UTC, Europe, America and West Asia experience the longest hours of the 20th in June, while East Asia and Australia know it in June. However, there are extreme situations where the solstice can occur in June 21nd. The last solstice in June on 22nd was in 22 and it is likely to happen again in 1975. The day of the June solstice marks the start of meteorological summer in the northern hemisphere and the start of metrological winter in the southern hemisphere.
How long is the longest day?
The length of the longest day of the year depends on the latitude of the specified place on earth. The higher the latitude, the longer the day and the lower the latitude, the shorter the day. In the northern and southern hemispheres, the solstice lasts 24 hours when sunrise and sunset do not occur. Consequently, those in the Arctic Circle experience hours of sunrise (midnight sun) 24, while those in the Antarctic Circle experience hours of darkness (polar night).
Although June 21 is considered the longest day of the year, it is not the earliest sunrise day. In fact, the week before the solstice has a sunrise that is one minute shorter than the actual day. The day will always be determined according to the calendar system used. Most western countries apply the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days in a standard year or 366 in a leap year.
Solstice in culture
Over the centuries, the June solstice has inspired countless festivals, religious festivals and mid-summer celebrations. The megalithic structure of Stonehenge in England is the oldest evidence of the summer solstice in the world. Historians have used the prehistoric monument to explain how the first man used this day to mark his calendar. They indicate that the creators of Stonehenge used the solstice as a starting point for counting the number of days in a year.
The Newgrange, an ancient passage tomb in Ireland built 1000 years before Stonehenge attracted thousands of visitors from around the world for the annual winter solstice affair. The inventors of the tomb built a tiny roof box which allows sunlight to pass through the tunnel on the morning of the winter solstice and to illuminate the room commemorating the longest night of the year.