Summer Solstice

In 2026, the summer solstice occurs on June 21, bringing the longest day and shortest night of the year to the Northern Hemisphere. For thousands of years, people have observed and celebrated this moment. The word solstice comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “standing still.” It is known as the first day of summer. Around the solstice, the Sun appears to pause in its northward journey across the sky before beginning its gradual descent southward again. The summer solstice occurs because Earth is tilted on its axis by about 23.5 degrees. As the Earth orbits the Sun, that tilt causes different parts of the planet to receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. On the summer solstice, the Northern hemisphere is tilted most directly toward the Sun. As a result, the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky and daylight lasts longer than on any other day of the year. < People often think that summer occurs because Earth is closer to the Sun. In reality, Earth’s distance from the Sun has little to do with the seasons. Instead, the amount of sunlight a region receives depends on the planet’s tilt.