| Summer solstice | |
|---|---|
 Sunrise atStonehenge in England during the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere | |
| Also called | Midsummer; the Longest Day; the Shortest Night; Estival solstice |
| Observed by | Various cultures |
| Type | Cultural, astronomical |
| Significance | Beginning of lengthening nights and shortening days |
| Date | June 20 or June 21 (Northern Hemisphere) and December 21 or December 22 (Southern Hemisphere) |
| event | equinox | solstice | equinox | solstice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| month | March[3] | June[4] | September[5] | December[6] | ||||
| year | day | time | day | time | day | time | day | time |
| 2020 | 20 | 03:50 | 20 | 21:43 | 22 | 13:31 | 21 | 10:03 |
| 2021 | 20 | 09:37 | 21 | 03:32 | 22 | 19:21 | 21 | 15:59 |
| 2022 | 20 | 15:33 | 21 | 09:14 | 23 | 01:04 | 21 | 21:48 |
| 2023 | 20 | 21:25 | 21 | 14:58 | 23 | 06:50 | 22 | 03:28 |
| 2024 | 20 | 03:07 | 20 | 20:51 | 22 | 12:44 | 21 | 09:20 |
| 2025 | 20 | 09:01 | 21 | 02:42 | 22 | 18:19 | 21 | 15:03 |
| 2026 | 20 | 14:46 | 21 | 08:25 | 23 | 00:06 | 21 | 20:50 |
| 2027 | 20 | 20:25 | 21 | 14:11 | 23 | 06:02 | 22 | 02:43 |
| 2028 | 20 | 02:17 | 20 | 20:02 | 22 | 11:45 | 21 | 08:20 |
| 2029 | 20 | 08:01 | 21 | 01:48 | 22 | 17:37 | 21 | 14:14 |
| 2030 | 20 | 13:51 | 21 | 07:31 | 22 | 23:27 | 21 | 20:09 |
Thesummer solstice orestival solstice[i] occurs when one ofEarth'spoles has its maximum tilt toward theSun. It happens twice yearly, once in eachhemisphere (Northern andSouthern). The summer solstice is the day with the longestperiod of daylight and shortest night of the year in that hemisphere, when the sun is at itshighest position in the sky. At eitherpole there iscontinuous daylight at the time of its summer solstice. The opposite event is thewinter solstice.
The summer solstice occurs during the hemisphere'ssummer. In theNorthern Hemisphere, this is theJune solstice (20 or 21 June) and in theSouthern Hemisphere, this is theDecember solstice (21 or 22 December). Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures, and has been marked by festivals and rituals. Traditionally, intemperate regions (especially Europe), the summer solstice is seen as the middle of summer and referred to as "midsummer"; although today in some countries and calendars it is seen as summer's beginning.
On the summer solstice, Earth's maximumaxial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°.[7] Likewise, the Sun'sdeclination from thecelestial equator is 23.44°. In areas outside thetropics, the sun reaches its highestelevation angle atsolar noon on the summer solstice.
Although the summer solstice is the longest day of the year for that hemisphere, the dates of earliest sunrise and latest sunset vary by a few days.[8] This is because Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse, and its orbital speed varies slightly during the year.[7]
There is evidence that the summer solstice has been culturally important since theNeolithic era.Many ancient monuments in Europe especially, as well as parts of the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, are aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the summer solstice (seearchaeoastronomy).[9][10] The significance of the summer solstice has varied among cultures, but most recognize the event in some way withholidays,festivals, andrituals around that time with themes of fertility.[11]
In theJulian calendar of theRoman Empire, the date of the summer solstice was 24 June,[12] andMarcus Terentius Varro wrote in the 1st century BC that the Romans saw this as the middle of summer.[13] The Julian calendar had a flaw in that the solstices and equinoxes gradually fell on earlier dates. At theFirst Council of Nicaea (325), the Christian Church set the date of the spring equinox to 21 March, for the purpose ofcalculating Easter. This also brought the date of the summer solstice forward to 20 June.[14]
The summer solstice was seen as the middle of summer inAnglo-Saxon England and called 'midsummer'. SomeAnglo-Saxon calendars placed midsummer on the older date of 24 June while others place it on 20 June.[15]
Elsewhere in northern Europe, traditionally the summer solstice is also seen as the middle of summer and it was reckoned as the night of 23–24 June.[16] The summer solstice continues to be seen as the middle of summer in many European cultures, but in some cultures or calendars it is seen as summer's beginning.[17] InSweden, midsummer is one of the year's major holidays when the country closes down as much as during Christmas.
The following tables contain information on the length of the day on 20 June 2016, close to the summer solstice of theNorthern Hemisphere and winter solstice of theSouthern Hemisphere. The data was collected from the website of theFinnish Meteorological Institute[18] as well as from certain other websites.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
The data is arranged geographically and within the tables from the longest day to the shortest one. Times that occur the next day (21 June) are marked with+.
| Fennoscandia and theBaltic states | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
 Murmansk | — | — | 24 h |
| Apatity | — | — | 24 h |
 Bodø | — | — | 24 h |
 Rovaniemi | — | — | 24 h |
 Luleå | 1:00 | 0:05+ | 23 h 04 min |
| Arkhangelsk | 1:34 | 23:04 | 21 h 30 min |
 Reykjavík | 2:55 | 0:03+ | 21 h 08 min |
| Trondheim | 3:02 | 23:37 | 20 h 35 min |
 Tórshavn | 3:36 | 23:21 | 19 h 45 min |
| Petrozavodsk | 2:55 | 22:33 | 19 h 38 min |
| Helsinki | 3:54 | 22:49 | 18 h 55 min |
| Saint Petersburg | 3:35 | 22:25 | 18 h 50 min |
| Oslo | 3:53 | 22:43 | 18 h 49 min |
 Tallinn | 4:03 | 22:42 | 18 h 39 min |
| Stockholm | 3:30 | 22:07 | 18 h 37 min |
 Riga | 4:29 | 22:21 | 17 h 52 min |
 Copenhagen | 4:25 | 21:57 | 17 h 32 min |
 Vilnius | 4:41 | 21:59 | 17 h 17 min |
| Europe | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
 Edinburgh | 4:26 | 22:02 | 17 h 36 min |
| Moscow | 3:44 | 21:17 | 17 h 33 min |
 Berlin | 4:43 | 21:33 | 16 h 49 min |
 Warsaw | 4:14 | 21:00 | 16 h 46 min |
 London | 4:43 | 21:21 | 16 h 38 min |
 Kyiv | 4:46 | 21:12 | 16 h 26 min |
 Paris | 5:46 | 21:57 | 16 h 10 min |
 Vienna | 4:53 | 20:58 | 16 h 04 min |
 Budapest | 4:46 | 20:44 | 15 h 58 min |
 Zürich | 5:29 | 21:25 | 15 h 56 min |
 Rome | 5:34 | 20:48 | 15 h 13 min |
 Madrid | 6:44 | 21:48 | 15 h 03 min |
 Lisbon | 6:11 | 21:04 | 14 h 52 min |
 Athens | 6:02 | 20:50 | 14 h 48 min |
| Africa | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
 Cairo | 4:54 | 18:59 | 14 h 04 min |
| Tenerife | 7:08 | 21:05 | 13 h 57 min |
 Dakar | 6:41 | 19:41 | 12 h 59 min |
 Addis Ababa | 6:07 | 18:46 | 12 h 38 min |
 Nairobi | 6:32 | 18:35 | 12 h 02 min |
 Kinshasa | 6:04 | 17:56 | 11 h 52 min |
 Dar es Salaam | 6:32 | 18:16 | 11 h 43 min |
 Luanda | 6:20 | 17:56 | 11 h 36 min |
 Jamestown | 6:49 | 17:59 | 11 h 10 min |
 Antananarivo | 6:21 | 17:21 | 10 h 59 min |
 Windhoek | 6:30 | 17:15 | 10 h 44 min |
 Johannesburg | 6:54 | 17:24 | 10 h 29 min |
| Cape Town | 7:51 | 17:44 | 9 h 53 min |
| Middle East | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
 Tehran | 5:48 | 20:23 | 14 h 34 min |
 Beirut | 5:27 | 19:52 | 14 h 24 min |
 Baghdad | 4:53 | 19:14 | 14 h 21 min |
 Jerusalem | 5:33 | 19:47 | 14 h 13 min |
 Manama | 4:45 | 18:32 | 13 h 46 min |
 Doha | 4:44 | 18:26 | 13 h 42 min |
 Dubai | 5:29 | 19:11 | 13 h 42 min |
 Riyadh | 5:04 | 18:44 | 13 h 39 min |
 Muscat | 5:19 | 18:55 | 13 h 35 min |
 Sana'a | 5:33 | 18:35 | 13 h 02 min |
| Americas | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
 Inuvik | — | — | 24 h |
 Fairbanks | 2:57 | 0:47+ | 21 h 49 min |
 Nuuk | 2:53 | 0:03+ | 21 h 09 min |
| Iqaluit | 2:11 | 23:00 | 20 h 49 min |
| Anchorage | 4:20 | 23:41 | 19 h 21 min |
| Kodiak | 5:07 | 23:14 | 18 h 06 min |
| Sitka | 4:06 | 22:00 | 17 h 54 min |
| Unalaska | 6:34 | 23:41 | 17 h 06 min |
| Edmonton | 5:04 | 22:07 | 17 h 02 min |
| Winnipeg | 5:19 | 21:40 | 16 h 21 min |
| Vancouver | 5:06 | 21:21 | 16 h 14 min |
| Seattle | 5:11 | 21:10 | 15 h 59 min |
| Ottawa | 5:14 | 20:54 | 15 h 40 min |
| Toronto | 5:35 | 21:02 | 15 h 26 min |
| New York | 5:24 | 20:30 | 15 h 05 min |
| Washington | 5:42 | 20:36 | 14 h 53 min |
| Los Angeles | 5:42 | 20:07 | 14 h 25 min |
| Miami | 6:30 | 20:14 | 13 h 44 min |
 Havana | 6:44 | 20:17 | 13 h 33 min |
| Honolulu | 5:50 | 19:16 | 13 h 25 min |
 Mexico City | 6:59 | 20:17 | 13 h 18 min |
 Kingston | 5:32 | 18:45 | 13 h 13 min |
 Bridgetown | 5:33 | 18:27 | 12 h 54 min |
 Managua | 5:21 | 18:11 | 12 h 50 min |
 Port of Spain | 5:45 | 18:30 | 12 h 45 min |
 Georgetown | 5:38 | 18:09 | 12 h 31 min |
 Bogotá | 5:46 | 18:09 | 12 h 23 min |
 Quito | 6:12 | 18:19 | 12 h 06 min |
 Lima | 6:27 | 17:52 | 11 h 24 min |
 La Paz | 6:59 | 18:08 | 11 h 08 min |
 Rio de Janeiro | 6:32 | 17:16 | 10 h 43 min |
| São Paulo | 6:47 | 17:28 | 10 h 40 min |
| Porto Alegre | 7:20 | 17:32 | 10 h 12 min |
 Santiago | 7:46 | 17:42 | 9 h 56 min |
 Buenos Aires | 8:00 | 17:50 | 9 h 49 min |
| Ushuaia | 9:58 | 17:11 | 7 h 12 min |
| Asia and Oceania | |||
| City | Sunrise 20 June 2016 | Sunset 20 June 2016 | Length of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provideniya | 0:52 | 22:16 | 21 h 23 min |
| Magadan | 3:37 | 22:19 | 18 h 41 min |
| Petropavlovsk | 4:58 | 21:55 | 16 h 56 min |
| Khabarovsk | 4:57 | 21:04 | 16 h 07 min |
 Ulaanbaatar | 5:52 | 21:54 | 16 h 01 min |
| Vladivostok | 5:32 | 20:55 | 15 h 22 min |
 Beijing | 4:45 | 19:46 | 15 h 00 min |
 Seoul | 5:11 | 19:56 | 14 h 46 min |
 Tokyo | 4:25 | 19:00 | 14 h 34 min |
| Shanghai | 4:50 | 19:01 | 14 h 10 min |
| Lhasa | 6:55 | 20:58 | 14 h 03 min |
 Delhi | 5:23 | 19:21 | 13 h 58 min |
 Kathmandu | 5:08 | 19:02 | 13 h 53 min |
 Taipei | 5:04 | 18:46 | 13 h 41 min |
 Hong Kong | 5:39 | 19:09 | 13 h 30 min |
 Manila | 5:27 | 18:27 | 12 h 59 min |
 Bangkok | 5:51 | 18:47 | 12 h 56 min |
 Singapore | 7:00 | 19:12 | 12 h 11 min |
 Jakarta | 6:01 | 17:47 | 11 h 45 min |
 Darwin | 7:06 | 18:29 | 11 h 23 min |
 Papeete | 6:27 | 17:32 | 11 h 04 min |
| Sydney | 6:59 | 16:53 | 9 h 53 min |
 Auckland | 7:33 | 17:11 | 9 h 37 min |
| Melbourne | 7:35 | 17:07 | 9 h 32 min |
| Dunedin | 8:19 | 16:59 | 8 h 39 min |
The length of day increases from the equator towards theNorth Pole in the Northern Hemisphere in June (around the summer solstice there), but decreases towards theSouth Pole in the Southern Hemisphere at the time of the southern winter solstice.
Varro places the equinoxes and solstices at the midpoints of the seasons ... His dating for the beginnings of the four seasons are as follows: February 7 for spring, May 9 for summer, August 11 for autumn, and November 10 for winter.
