![]() The spring equinox signified birth, renewal, growth and the arrival of the planting season. ![]() In particular, the solstices and equinoxes were important for agriculture. What are some solar traditions that have continued to today?īefore we had meteorology and clocks though, humans used the Sun to mark daily and annual time. Meteorological spring occurs during March, April, and May meteorological summer during June, July, and August meteorological autumn (or fall if you prefer) includes September, October, and November and meteorological winter includes December, January, and February. ![]() ![]() These are easier to define and are based entirely on how meteorologists and climatologists break the seasons into groupings of three months based on the annual temperature cycle and our calendar. Image Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel (TWAN) What are meteorological seasons? The middle band was taken during an equinox in 2008 March, but it is the same sun band that Earthlings see today, the day of the most recent equinox. The top Sun band was taken during the northern summer solstice in 2008 June, when the Sun rose highest in the sky and stayed above the horizon for more than 12 hours. The bottom Sun band was taken during the north’s winter solstice in 2007 December, when the Sun could not rise very high in the sky nor stay above the horizon very long. The featured picture is a composite of hourly images taken of the Sun above Bursa, Turkey on key days from solstice to equinox to solstice. In astronomical terms the summer solstice marks the start of the summer season, while the winter solstice marks the start of winter. Six months later, the northern hemisphere has its winter solstice in December (around the 22nd) because now this part of the Earth is tilted away from the Sun and the southern hemisphere will have its summer solstice (its longest day of the year), as it now tilts toward the Sun. And in the Arctic circle there will be 24 straight hours of sunlight.Īt the same time, below the equator the southern hemisphere experiences its winter solstice, at which time it is tilted away from the Sun and has the shortest day of the year. After this, days will get progressively shorter, but the northern hemishphere will also receive more sunlight and heat during the day. This occurs in June (between the 20th and 22nd) and this is also when the northern hemisphere experiences the longest day and shortest night of the year. In the northern hemisphere, we get the summer solstice at the exact moment when it is most tilted toward the Sun. The world ‘solstice’ comes from the Latin solstitium meaning ‘Sun stands still’, because it seems that the movement of the Sun’s path, whether north or south, stops before changing direction.Įarth as it orbits around the Sun and the June and December Solstice. A solstice occurs when the Sun is at its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days. This means that for half the year, the north side of our planet is tilted toward the Sun and the other half is tilted away, while the opposite is true for the rest of the year (the south side is tilted toward the Sun and north tilted away). In fact, it is tilted at 23.44°, with respect to the Sun and this tilt is called the eliptic. The Earth also moves around the Sun over the course of the year but the axis of rotation of the Earth is not lined up to the axis of its orbit around the Sun. What is a solstice?Īs the Earth rotates on an imaginary pole called its axis, we get our daily cycle of night and day. From left to right, a June solstice, a September equinox, a December solstice, a March equinox, via NASA Earth Observatory. Satellite views of Earth on the solstices and equinoxes.
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