By Rod Hill on 2014-06-17
Our cool & stormy weather feels like early spring, but summer is days away. The summer solstice will occur this Saturday at 3:51 a.m. PDT. At this time, the earth is tilted so that the north pole is at its closest point to the sun. (Yet, the earth will be at its farthest distance from the sun, called the aphelion on July 4th.) As a result, there will be more minutes of sunlight in the northern hemisphere than there are at any other time of the year.
The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol-stitium, for sun standing. The summer solstice is the time of the year when the sun stops its northern climb and stands briefly before turning back toward the equator. As seen from Portland, the sun will reach its highest northern point in the sky at 67.54 degrees from the horizon on June 20 and 21 at 1:12 p.m. From March 21 until September 24, there are more hours of daylight than darkness. After June 21, the days will gradually grow shorter until December 21, the winter solstice.
Of course, the opposite is true across the southern hemisphere, where winter is arriving and June 21st will be the shortest day of the year.
You are invited to an OMSI Star Party to celebrate the new season. Viewing will be Saturday evening at 9:00 p.m. at Rooster Rock and "Stub" Stewart Parks. For more information call, 503-797-4000.
Happy Summer Solstice!
The above report is courtesy of Jim Todd, OMSI Director of Space Science Education.
Drought conditions cover much of Oregon