June
Armillary Sphere
21
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The first day of summer in the northern hemisphere is the Summer solstice. (The Summer solstice in the northern hemisphere is the Winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.) The summer solstice has the longest "length of day," meaning that the sun will remain above the horizon for the greatest amount of time than it will at any other time of the year at that latitude. The sun will also reach its highest point in the sky on this day and will gradually drop lower into the sky until the Winter solstice. In some far northern and arctic regions, the sun will never drop below the horizon, and many cultures celebrate this midsummer's occurence a week! What direction would you look for the sunrise in Chicago on the first day of Summer? North? Northeast? East? Southeast? South? Southwest? West? Northwest? Where could you watch it set? (Same choices as above!) Make your guess and check your answer below. |
Watch the demonstation
The sun rises approximately 30 degrees north of east and sets approximately 30 degrees north of west.
Look carefully at the model and you can see that June 21 is when the ecliptic (the imaginary path followed by the sun, moon, planets, and zodiac constellations) and the Tropic of Cancer cross paths. The Tropic of Cancer is the imaginary circle around the earth, approximately 23.5 degrees north of the celestial equator, which marks the furthest north that the sun can ever be seen directly overhead (90 degrees from the horizon). It is named "Tropic of Cancer" because it crosses the ecliptic in the zodiac constellation of Cancer.
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Watch the sun's path (the ecliptic) move through the year
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Museum.
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