Internet search engine giant Google marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20 called "the June solstice" with a doodle on its home page as shown in the inset picture.
The day also marks the onset of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. However, in the Northern hemisphere, the sun rays will fall directly overhead to cause heat and rise of temperature.
The root words for Solstice are in Latin consisting of 'Sol' and 'Sistere'. The meanings of which are as follows:
· Sol = Sun
· Sistere = Still
Which mean that Sun comes to zenith to reverse its direction towards south again. In other words, it is moment when the Sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer.
The Sun-still moment can be on June 20, 21, or 22. However, this year, it is on June 20 at 21:43 UTC.
The next '20th-June Solstice' will be in 2203.
Comments