It's because it takes time for Earth's land and water to heat up, otherwise known as a seasonal lag, according to the Royal Meteorological Society. If there's so much sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer solstice, why isn't it the warmest day of the year? Why isn't the summer solstice the warmest day? For a few days before and after the solstice, the sun also appears close to these farthest points before slowly drifting back to rise and set due east at the following equinox. That's because the sunrise on the solstice is the farthest northeast and sunset is the farthest northwest of the year. "Solstice" means "sun stands still" in Latin, according to NASA. Using this definition, winter lasts exactly three months, as do all seasons. Meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from June 1 through Aug. Summer lasts an average of 93.6 days in the Northern Hemisphere and an average of 89 days in the Southern Hemisphere, according to. However, the seasons do not last an equal number of days because Earth's speed varies as it travels around the sun on an elliptical, or egg-shaped, orbit. So, summer in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from June 20 or June 21 until Sept. There are two definitions and dates for each season: astronomical and meteorological.Īstronomically - that is, defined by the solstices and equinoxes - summer in the Northern Hemisphere begins on the summer solstice and ends on the autumnal or fall equinox. 2, 2024 - two weeks after the December solstice - when it will be 91,404,095 miles (147,100,632 km) from our star. Similarly, Earth will be closest to the sun, a point called perihelion, at 7:38 p.m. That's about two weeks after the June solstice. However, Earth will be farthest from the sun - a moment called aphelion - at 4:06 p.m. On average, Earth is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the sun, according to NASA. However, it's actually the opposite: Earth is farthest from the sun when it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, according to. Some parts of the Northern Hemisphere get so hot during the summertime that you might think Earth is closer to the sun. (Image credit: Dorling Kindersley via Getty Images) Our planet has four seasons that start and end on the solstices and equinoxes, due to Earth's tilt relative to the sun. Due to this discrepancy, the solstice doesn't always occur on the same day. In reality, Earth's orbit around the sun takes 365.25 days, according to NASA. The date varies because the Gregorian calendar has 365 days, with an extra leap day added in February every four years. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice happens on Dec. Why does the summer solstice date vary?Įach year, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere falls on one of two days: June 20 or June 21. The Tropic of Cancer is the most northerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon, according to the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System, a project based at the University of Hawaii. But on the northern summer solstice, the noon sun appears directly overhead at a higher latitude: the Tropic of Cancer, which sits about 23.5 degrees north of the equator and runs through Algeria, Niger, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, Mexico, the Bahamas, Mauritania and Mali. On the equinoxes - the two days of the year when both hemispheres experience the same amount of daylight and nighttime - the sun appears directly overhead, at 90 degrees above the equator at noon.
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