Solstice
Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol and sistere, because at thesolstices, the Sun’s declination appears to ‘stand still’ The day of a solstice in either hemisphere has either the most sunlight of the year or the least sunlight for any place other than the Equator. Outside of the tropics, the maximum elevation occurs at the summer solstice and the minimum at the winter solstice.
About Solstice in brief
Solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol and sistere, because at thesolstices, the Sun’s declination appears to ‘stand still’ The day of a solstice in either hemisphere has either the most sunlight of the year or the least sunlight for any place other than the Equator. Outside of the tropics, the maximum elevation occurs at the summer solstice and the minimum at the winter solstice. The two moments when the rotational axis of Earth has maximum effect are the Solstices and Equinoxes. The subsolar point is at the June solstice at 23 44° north, and at the December solstice the subsolar points at 23 and 44° south of the Tropic of Cancer. Also, during June, the Arctic will cross every two extremes between these two extremes exactly twice per year during the solstice on June 21, and on December 21, during the equinox on June 22, and every other time at any other time during the year on December 22, 23, and 24, respectively. The seasons occur because the Earth’s axis of rotation is not perpendicular to its orbital plane but currently makes an angle of about 23. 44°, and because the Sun keeps its orientation with respect to an inertial frame of reference.
As a consequence, for half the year the Northern Hemisphere is inclined toward the Sun while for other half year the Southern Hemisphere has this distinction. The path of the Sun, or ecliptic, sweeps north and south between the northern and southern hemispheres. The days are longer around the summer Solstice and shorter around the winter Solstice. When the Sun’s path crosses the equator, the length of the nights at latitudes +L° and −L° are of equal length. This is known as an equinX. There are two solstice and two equinxes in a tropical year. The solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. In that sense, solstice means ‘sun-standing’. The modern scientific word descends from a Latin scientific word in use in the late Roman Republic of the 1st century BC: solstitium. It contains two Latin-language morphemes, sol, “sun” and -stitiam, ‘stoppage’ It is also used to refer to a component of the relative velocity of the sun as it is observed in the sky. The Romans used it a number of times in his Natural History with a similar meaning that it has today. The Sun’s westerly motion never ceases as Earth is continually in rotation. However, However, thesun’s motion in declination comes to a stop at the moment of solstice, InThat sense,solstice means \”sun- standing\”.
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This page is based on the article Solstice published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
