According to astronomers, today is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere – the day the sun shines the longest and the shortest at night.
According to the Independent, June 21 is today the longest day in 2018 in the northern hemisphere. According to astronomy, June 21 is the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice.
The summer solstice with the northern hemisphere is the day when the position of sunrise and sunset is back to the north, higher than at any time of the year. At this time, the northern hemisphere will be illuminated by the sun for the longest period and the shortest during the night.
For people in the southern hemisphere of Earth, today is the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the year.
According to The Weather Channel, the UK will host the summer solstice with a very long duration of 16 hours 38 minutes. The sun in England will rise at 4:43 a.m. and set at 9:30 a.m.
Today in Hanoi, the sun rises at 5:18 a.m. and sets at 6:37 a.m., total duration 13 hours 55 minutes. Meanwhile in southern Vietnam, because it is located further from the Tropic of Cancer, the lighting time is a bit shorter.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Sun rises at 5:34 a.m. and sets at 6:15 p.m., resulting in a total lighting time of 13 hours 49 minutes.
During the next 6 months, at the winter solstice (December 21-22), we will have the shortest day and the longest night of the year, while for the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere it is is the reverse.
According to astronomers, thanks to the tilting axis of the Earth, we have this variation in the duration of light and also the change in weather between seasons of the year.
We know that the British are very impatient to wait for this event. The Stonehenge Stone Circle on the Salisbury Plains in County Wiltshire in the South West of England will welcome large numbers today as they come here to welcome the first rays of sunshine of the day .
Because many people believe, the stone circle at Stonehenge was built as a sort of astronomical calendar of the ancients. Along with this, the summer solstice is also the only time of year when visitors can touch the gemstones of Stonehenge.
