Context: Recently, summer solstice has been experienced across the northern section of globe.

About the Summer Solstice

• The summer solstice is the longest day of the year occurring to the north of the Equator on June 21.

• The summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degrees north latitude.

Why do we have the summer solstice?

• As Earth rotates on its axis, the Northern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight between March and September over the course of a day.

• People living in the Northern Hemisphere experience summer during this time.

• For the rest of the year, the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight.

• During the solstice, the Earth’s axis is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the Sun and the South Pole is away from it.

• Earth’s axis is a path around which the planet spins and completes one turn each day.

• This imaginary axis passes through the middle of the Earth from top to bottom and is always tilted at 23.5 degrees with respect to the Sun.

• The solstice is that instant in time when the North Pole points more directly toward the Sun than at any other time during the year.

• Solstice means “sun stands still” in Latin.

• While the solstice occurs at the same time across the world, different countries experience it at different times according to their time zones.

What happens during the solstice?

• This day sees the Earth receiving a greater amount of energy from the Sun.

• The maximum amount of sunlight received by the Northern Hemisphere during this time usually occurs on June 20, 21 or 22.

• In contrast, the Southern Hemisphere receives most of the sunlight on December 21, 22 or 23 when the northern hemisphere has its longest nights or experiences the winter solstice.

• The amount of light received by a specific area in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer solstice depends on the latitudinal location of the place.

• The further north one moves from the equator, the more light one receives during the summer solstice.

• At the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set during the solstice.

• Summer solstice does not necessarily mean the earliest sunrise or latest sunset.

• That depends on the latitudinal location of the country.