The summer solstice is here. What to know about the longest day of the year.

Peak Sunshine arrived in the northern hemisphere – the summer solstice.

Friday is the longest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical summer. It is the opposite in the southern hemisphere, when it is the shortest day of the year and winter will begin.

The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words “soil” for the sun and the “stitium” which can mean “break” or “stop”. The solstice is the end of the annual sun in the sky, when it manufactures its longest and highest bow. The bad news for sun lovers: he then begins to withdraw and the days will become a little shorter every day until the end of December.

People have marked solstices for eons with celebrations and monuments, notably Stonehenge, which was designed to line up on the sun paths in the Solstices. But what’s going on in the heavens? Here is what you need to know about terrestrial orbit.

Solstices are when the days and nights are at their most extreme

While the earth moves around the sun, it does it from an angle compared to the sun. For most of the year, the axis of the earth is tilted towards or far from the sun. This means that heat and sunlight unequally fall on the north and southern halves of the planet.

Solstices mark the times of the year when this inclination is the most extreme, and the days and nights are the most unequal.

During the summer solstice of the northern hemisphere, the upper half of the earth is tilted towards the sun, creating the longest and shortest night day of the year. This solstice falls between June 20 and 22.

Meanwhile, at the winter solstice, the northern hemisphere leans away from the sun – leading to the shortest and longest night day of the year. The winter solstice falls between December 20 and 23.

The equinox is when there is an equal amount of day and night

During the equinox, the terrestrial axis and its orbit align so that the two hemispheres obtain an equal amount of sun.

The word Equinox comes from two Latin words meaning equal and night. Indeed, on the equinox, the day and the night last almost the same time – although you can get a few more minutes, depending on where you are on the planet.

The spring of the northern hemisphere – or Vernal – Equinox can land between March 19 and 21, depending on the year. Its fall – or fall – the equinox can land between September 21 and 24.

On the equator, the sun will be directly above noon. The equinoxes are the only time when the north and southern poles are lit by sun at the same time.

What is the difference between weather and astronomical seasons?

These are only two different ways to carve out the year.

While astronomical seasons depend on how the earth moves around the sun, the weather seasons are defined by the weather. They break down the year into three months’ seasons depending on the annual temperature cycles. At this calendar, spring begins on March 1, summer on June 1, fall on September 1 and winter on December 1.