Happy Summer Solstice!

Today marks the first day of summer (…finally!) and the summer solstice. If you didn’t know, it’s the longest day of the year for anyone living north of the equator.

The summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5° north latitude.

Hopefully, you already know this – the Earth orbits around the sun on a tittle axis, which creates the seasons. Between March and September (spring and summer), the Northern Hemisphere receives more exposure to sunlight throughout the day. From September to March (fall and winter), the Southern Hemisphere has more sunlight, and then Northern Hemisphere then has less. “Peak” sunlight is around June 20, 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and on December 21, 22 or 23 in the Southern Hemisphere (the winter solstice in the North).

In England, one of the world’s largest solstice celebrations in the world takes place! No one really knows what Stonehenge is still, but many have thought it was used as a massive calendar based on the sun’s and moon’s rotation around the Earth’s. Thousands gather each year to bring in the summer season, partying at the Glastonbury Festival.