The Summer Solstice, also known as midsummer, will take place on June 21, Friday this year. The summer solstice occurs when the Earth's poles reach the maximum tilt towards the sun. This happens twice a year and during the Summer Solstice, the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun.
Summer Solstice is the beginning of the summer season and is said to be the longest day of the year. The day will receive the maximum hours of sunlight with the Sun rising early and setting late. This is because the Sun shines directly above the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere. The Earth's axis is said to tilt 23.4 degrees towards the Sun relative to the plane of its orbit.
How do Indians celebrate Summer Solstice?
In India, many people celebrate the longest day of the year by doing yoga. Incidentally, June 21 is also observed as International Yoga Day. People get together and celebrate the day by having mass yoga sessions across the country. They also pray to the Sun for happiness, love and forgiveness.
The Sunrise will take place at 5:23:40 am and will set at 19:21:57 pm. Length of the day will be 13 hours 58 minutes and 16 seconds.
The days keep getting longer
It is a known fact that with the commencement of the year, the days keep getting longer till 20, 21 and 22 of June and they begin becoming shorter.
However, scientists have discovered that over time, i.e. years, the Earth's rotation has been getting steadily longer due to tidal friction. Scientists believe that the Earth finished a rotation in six hours now, it takes 24 hours to finish the rotation.
