Solstice

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For other uses, see Solstice (disambiguation).
UTC
date and
time of
solstices
and
equinoxe
s[1]
Equinox Solstice Equinox Solstice
year Mar June Sept Dec
day time day time day time day time
2004 20 06:49 21 00:57 22 16:30 21 12:42
2005 20 12:33 21 06:46 22 22:23 21 18:35
2006 20 18:26 21 12:26 23 04:03 22 00:22
2007 21 00:07 21 18:06 23 09:51 22 06:08
2008 20 05:48 20 23:59 22 15:44 21 12:04
2009 20 11:44 21 05:45 22 21:18 21 17:47
2010 20 17:32 21 11:28 23 03:09 21 23:38
2011 20 23:21 21 17:16 23 09:04 22 05:30
2012 20 05:14 20 23:09 22 14:49 21 11:12
2013 20 11:02 21 05:04 22 20:44 21 17:11
2014 20 16:57 21 10:51 23 02:29 21 23:03
2015 20 22:45 21 16:38 23 08:20 22 04:48
2016 20 04:30 20 22:34 22 14:21 21 10:44
2017 20 10:28 21 04:24 22 20:02 21 16:28
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent
position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes. The name is derived from
the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in
declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop
before reversing direction.
The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The
solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are
considered to start or separate the seasons, while in others they fall nearer the middle.

Contents
[hide]

· 1 Definitions and frames of reference

· 2 Heliocentric view of the seasons

· 3 Geocentric view of the seasons

· 4 Cultural aspects

· 4.1 Ancient Greek names and concepts

· 4.2 English names

· 4.3 Solstice terms in East Asia

· 4.4 Solstice celebrations

· 4.5 Solstice determination

· 5 See also

· 6 References

· 7 External links

· 7.1 Calculations, plots and tables

· 7.2 Debate about season start

[edit] Definitions and frames of reference

Of the many ways in which solstice can be defined, one of the most common (and perhaps most
easily understood) is by the astronomical phenomenon for which it is named, which is readily
observable by anyone on Earth: a "sun-standing." This modern scientific word descends from a
Latin scientific word in use in the late Roman republic of the 1st century BC: solstitium. Pliny
uses it a number of times in his Natural History with the same meaning that it has today. It
contains two Latin-language segments, sol, "sun", and -stitium, "stoppage."[2] The Romans used
"standing" to refer to a component of the relative velocity of the Sun as it is observed in the sky.
Relative velocity is the motion of an object from the point of view of an observer in a frame of
reference. From a fixed position on the ground, the sun appears to orbit around the Earth.[3]
To an observer in inertial space, the planet Earth is seen to rotate about an axis and revolve
around the Sun in an elliptical path with the Sun at one focus. The Earth's axis is tilted with
respect to the plane of the Earth's orbit and this axis maintains a position that changes little with
respect to the background of stars. An observer on Earth therefore sees a solar path that is the
result of both rotation and revolution.
The component of the Sun's motion seen by an earthbound observer caused by the revolution of
the tilted axis – which, keeping the same angle in space, is oriented toward or away from the Sun
– is an observed daily increment (and lateral offset) of the elevation of the Sun at noon for
approximately six months and observed daily decrement for the remaining six months. At
maximum or minimum elevation, the relative yearly motion of the Sun perpendicular to the
horizon stops and reverses direction.
The maximum elevation occurs at the summer solstice and the minimum at the winter solstice.
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 equinox. There are two solstices and two equinoxes
in a tropical year.[4]

[edit] Heliocentric view of the seasons

Diagram of the Earth's Diagram of the Earth's

Illumination of Earth Illumination of Earth seasons as seen from the seasons as seen from the
by Sun at the northern by Sun at the southern north. Far right: southern south. Far left: northern
solstice. solstice. solstice solstice
The cause of the seasons is that the Earth's axis of rotation is not perpendicular to its orbital plane
(the flat plane made through the center of mass (barycenter) of the solar system (near or within
the Sun) and the successive locations of Earth during the year), but currently makes an angle of
about 23.44° (called the "obliquity of the ecliptic"), and that the axis keeps its orientation with
respect to inertial space. As a consequence, for half the year (from around 20 March to 22
September) the northern hemisphere is inclined toward the Sun, with the maximum around 21
June, while for the other half year the southern hemisphere has this distinction, with the
maximum around 21 December. The two moments when the inclination of Earth's rotational axis
has maximum effect are the solstices.
The table at the top of the article gives the instances of equinoxes and solstices over several
years. Refer to the equinox article for some remarks.
At the northern solstice the subsolar point reaches to 23.44° north, known as the Tropic of
Cancer. Likewise at the southern solstice the same thing happens for latitude 23.44° south,
known as the Tropic of Capricorn. The sub-solar point will cross every latitude between these
two extremes exactly twice per year.
Also during the northern solstice, places situated at latitude 66.56° north, known as the Arctic
Circle will see the Sun just on the horizon during midnight, and all places north of it will see the
Sun above horizon for 24 hours. That is the midnight sun or midsummer-night sun or polar day.
On the other hand, places at latitude 66.56° south, known as the Antarctic Circle will see the Sun
just on the horizon during midday, and all places south of it will not see the Sun above horizon at
any time of the day. That is the polar night. During the southern solstice the effects on both
hemispheres are just the opposite.

Two images showing the amount of reflected sunlight at southern and northern summer
solstices respectively (watts / m²).
At the temperate latitudes, during summer the Sun remains longer and higher above the horizon,
while in winter it remains shorter and lower. This is the cause of summer heat and winter cold.
Further information: effect of sun angle on climate
The seasons are not caused by the varying distance of Earth from the Sun due to the orbital
eccentricity of the Earth's orbit. This variation does make a contribution, but is small compared
with the effects of exposure because of Earth's tilt. Currently the Earth reaches perihelion at the
beginning of January - the beginning of the northern winter and the southern summer. Although
the Earth is at its closest to the Sun and therefore receiving more heat, the whole planet is not in
summer. Although it is true that the northern winter is somewhat warmer than the southern
winter, the placement of the continents may also play an important factor. In the same way,
during aphelion at the beginning of July, the Sun is farther away, but that still leaves the northern
summer and southern winter as they are with only minor effects.
Due to Milankovitch cycles, the Earth's axial tilt and orbital eccentricity will change over
thousands of years. Thus in 10,000 years one would find that Earth's northern winter occurs at
aphelion and its northern summer at perihelion. The severity of seasonal change—the average
temperature difference between summer and winter in location—will also change over time
because the Earth's axial tilt fluctuates between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees.

[edit] Geocentric view of the seasons

Day arcs at 0° latitude, equator

Day arcs at 20° latitude

Day arcs at 50° latitude

Day arcs at 70° latitude

 Day arcs at 90° latitude, pole
The explanation given in the previous section is useful for observers in outer space. They would
see how the Earth revolves around the Sun and how the distribution of sunlight on the planet
would change over the year. To observers on Earth, it is also useful to see how the Sun seems to
revolve around them. These pictures show such a perspective as follows. They show the day arcs
of the Sun, the paths the Sun tracks along the celestial dome in its diurnal movement. The
pictures show this for every hour on both solstice days. The longer arc is always the summer
track and the shorter one the winter track. The two tracks are at a distance of 46.88° (2 × 23.44°)
away from each other.
In addition, some 'ghost' suns are indicated below the horizon, as much as 18° down. The Sun in
this area causes twilight. The pictures can be used for both the northern and southern
hemispheres. The observer is supposed to sit near the tree on the island in the middle of the
ocean. The green arrows give the cardinal directions.

· On the northern hemisphere the north is to the left, the Sun rises in the east (far arrow),
culminates in the south (to the right) while moving to the right and sets in the west (near
arrow). Both rise and set positions are displaced towards the north in summer, and
towards the south for the winter track.

· On the southern hemisphere the south is to the left, the Sun rises in the east (near arrow),
culminates in the north (to the right) while moving to the left and sets in the west (far
arrow). Both rise and set positions are displaced towards the south in summer, and
towards the north for the winter track.
The following special cases are depicted.

· On the equator the Sun is not overhead every day, as some people think. In fact that
happens only on two days of the year, the equinoxes. The solstices are the dates that the
Sun stays farthest away from the zenith, only reaching an altitude of 66.56° either to the
north or the south. The only thing special about the equator is that all days of the year,
solstices included, have roughly the same length of about 12 hours, so that it makes no
sense to talk about summer and winter. Instead, tropical areas often have wet and dry
seasons.

· The day arcs at 20° latitude. The Sun culminates at 46.56° altitude in winter and 93.44°
altitude in summer. In this case an angle larger than 90° means that the culmination takes
place at an altitude of 86.56° in the opposite cardinal direction. For example in the
 southern hemisphere, the Sun remains in the north during winter, but can reach over the
zenith to the south in midsummer. Summer days are longer than winter days, but the
difference is no more than two or three hours. The daily path of the Sun is steep at the
horizon the whole year round, resulting in a twilight of only about one hour.

· The day arcs at 50° latitude. The winter Sun does not rise more than 16.56° above the
horizon at midday, and 63.44° in summer above the same horizon direction. The
difference in the length of the day between summer and winter is striking - slightly less
than 8 hours at midwinter, to slightly more than 16 hours in midsummer. Likewise is the
difference in direction of sunrise and sunset. Also note the steepness of the daily path of
the Sun above the horizon. It is much shallower than at 20° latitude. Therefore not only is
the Sun not reaching as high, it also seems not to be in a hurry to do so. But conversely
this means that the Sun is not in a hurry to dip deeply below the horizon at night. At this
latitude at midnight the summer sun is only 16.56° below the horizon, which means that
astronomical twilight continues the whole night. This phenomenon is known as the grey
nights, nights when it does not get dark enough for astronomers to do their observations.
Above 60° latitude the Sun would be even closer to the horizon, only 6.56° away from it.
Then civil twilight continues the whole night. This phenomenon is known as the white
nights. And above 66.56° latitude, of course, one would get the midnight sun.

· The day arcs at 70° latitude. At local noon the winter Sun culminates at −3.44°, and the
summer Sun at 43.44°. Said another way, during the winter the Sun does not rise above
the horizon, it is the polar night. There will be still a strong twilight though. At local
midnight the summer Sun culminates at 3.44°, said another way, it does not set, it is the
polar day.

· The day arcs at the pole. At the time of the summer or winter solstices, the Sun is 23.44°
degrees above or below the horizon respectively, irrespective of time of day. Whilst the
Sun is up (during summer months) it will circle around the whole sky, appearing to stay
at the same angle from the horizon, therefore the concept of day or night is meaningless.
The angle of elevation will gradually change on an annual cycle, with the Sun reaching
its highest point at the summer Solstice, and rising or setting at the Equinox, with
extended periods of twilight lasting several days after the autumn equinox and before the
spring equinox.

[edit] Cultural aspects

[edit] Ancient Greek names and concepts
The concept of the solstices was embedded in ancient Greek celestial navigation. As soon as they
discovered that the Earth is spherical[5] they devised the concept of the celestial sphere,[6] an
imaginary spherical surface rotating with the heavenly bodies (ouranioi) fixed in it (the modern
one does not rotate, but the stars in it do). As long as no assumptions are made concerning the
distances of those bodies from Earth or from each other, the sphere can be accepted as real and is
in fact still in use.
The stars move across the inner surface of the celestial sphere along the circumferences of circles
in parallel planes[7] perpendicular to the Earth's axis extended indefinitely into the heavens and
intersecting the celestial sphere in a celestial pole.[8] The Sun and the planets do not move in
these parallel paths but along another circle, the ecliptic, whose plane is at an angle, the obliquity
of the ecliptic, to the axis, bringing the Sun and planets across the paths of and in among the
stars.*
Cleomedes states:[9]
The band of the Zodiac (zōdiakos kuklos, "zodiacal circle") is at an oblique angle (loksos)
because it is positioned between the tropical circles and equinoctial circle touching each
of the tropical circles at one point … This Zodiac has a determinable width (set at 8°
today) … that is why it is described by three circles: the central one is called "heliacal"
(hēliakos, "of the sun").
The term heliacal circle is used for the ecliptic, which is in the center of the zodiacal circle,
conceived as a band including the noted constellations named on mythical themes. Other authors
use Zodiac to mean ecliptic, which first appears in a gloss of unknown author in a passage of
Cleomedes where he is explaining that the Moon is in the zodiacal circle as well and periodically
crosses the path of the Sun. As some of these crossings represent eclipses of the Moon, the path
of the Sun is given a synonym, the ekleiptikos (kuklos) from ekleipsis, "eclipse."

[edit] English names

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material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)
The two solstices can be distinguished by different pairs of names, depending on which feature
one wants to stress.

· Summer Solstice and Winter solstice are the most common names. However, these can
be ambiguous since seasons of the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere are
opposites, and the summer solstice of one hemisphere is the winter solstice of the other.
These are also known as the 'longest' or 'shortest' days of the year.

· Northern Solstice and Southern Solstice indicate the direction of the Sun's apparent
movement. The northern solstice is in June on Earth, when the Sun is directly over the
Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the southern solstice is in December,
when the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere.

· June Solstice and December Solstice are an alternative to the more common "summer"
and "winter" terms, but without the ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context.
They are still not universal, however, as not all people use a solar-based calendar where
the solstices occur every year in the same month (as they do not in the Islamic Calendar
and Hebrew calendar, for example), and the names are not useful for other planets (Mars,
for example), even though these planets do have seasons.

· First point of Cancer and first point of Capricorn. One disadvantage of these names is
that, due to the precession of the equinoxes, the astrological signs where these solstices
are located no longer correspond with the actual constellations. The solstices are
 currently in the constellations of Taurus and Sagittarius.

· The Latin names Hibernal solstice (winter), and Aestival solstice (summer) are
sometimes used.

[edit] Solstice terms in East Asia

Main articles: Xiazhi and Dongzhi (solar term)

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Xiàzhì (pīnyīn) or
Geshi (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 夏至; Korean: 하지(Haji); Vietnamese: Hạ chí; literally:
"summer's extreme") is the 10th solar term, and marks the summer solstice. It begins when the
Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 90° (around June 21) and ends when the Sun reaches the
longitude of 105° (around July 7). Xiàzhì more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun
is exactly at the celestial longitude of 90°.

Dōngzhì (pīnyīn) or Tōji (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 冬至; Korean: 동지(Dongji);
Vietnamese: Đông chí; literally: "winter's extreme") is the 22nd solar term, and marks the winter
solstice. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 270° (around December 22 )
and ends when the Sun reaches the longitude of 285° (around January 5). Dōngzhì more often
refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 270°.
The solstices (as well as the equinoxes) mark the middle of the seasons in East Asian calendars.
Here, the Chinese character 至 means "extreme", so the terms for the solstices directly signify
the summits of summer and winter, a linkage that may not be immediately obvious in Western
languages.

[edit] Solstice celebrations

Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge

The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage
happens. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some
languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be
center points (in England, in the Northern hemisphere, for example, the period around the June
solstice is known as midsummer, and Midsummer's Day is 24 June, about three days after the
solstice itself). Similarly 25 December is the start of the Christmas celebration, and is the day the
Sun begins to return to the northern hemisphere.
Many cultures celebrate various combinations of the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes,
and the midpoints between them, leading to various holidays arising around these events. For the
December solstice, Christmas is the most popular holiday to have arisen. In addition, Yalda,
Saturnalia, Karachun, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Yule (see winter solstice for more) are also
celebrated around this time. For the June solstice, Christian cultures celebrate the feast of St.
John from June 23 to June 24 (see St. John's Eve, Ivan Kupala Day, Midsummer), while
Neopagans observe Midsummer. For the vernal (spring) equinox, several spring-time festivals
are celebrated, such as the observance in Judaism of Passover. The autumnal equinox has also
given rise to various holidays, such as the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. At the midpoints between
these four solar events, cross-quarter days are celebrated.
In many cultures the solstices and equinoxes traditionally determine the midpoint of the seasons,
which can be seen in the celebrations called midsummer and midwinter. Along this vein, the
Japanese celebrate the start of each season with an occurrence known as Setsubun. The
cumulative cooling and warming that result from the tilt of the planet become most pronounced
after the solstices, leading to the custom using them to mark the beginning of summer and
winter.
In the Hindu calendar, two sidereal solstices are named Makara Sankranti which marks the start
of Uttarayana and Karkat Sankranti which marks the start of Dakshinayana. The former occurs
around January 14 each year, while the latter occurs around July 14 each year. These mark the
movement of the Sun along a sidereally fixed zodiac (precession is ignored) into Makara, the
zodiacal sign which corresponds with Capricorn, and into Karkat, the zodiacal sign which
corresponds with Cancer respectively.
See also: Fête St-Jean-Baptiste
See also: Festival of San Juan
See also: Saint Jonas Day
See also: St John's Day (Estonia)
See also: Ivan Kupala Day

[edit] Solstice determination

Unlike the equinox, the solstice time is not easy to determine. The changes in Solar declination
become smaller as the sun gets closer to its maximum/minimum declination. The days before
and after the solstice, the declination speed is less than 30 arcseconds/day which is less than
1/60th of the angular size of the sun, or the equivalent to just 2 seconds of right ascension.
This difference is hardly detectable with indirect viewing based devices like sextant equipped
with a vernier, and impossible with more traditional tools like a gnomon[10] or an astrolabe. It is
also hard to detect the changes on sunrise/sunset azimuth due to the atmospheric refraction[11]
changes. Those accuracy issues render it impossible to determine the solstice day based on
observations made within the 3 (or even 5) days surrounding the solstice without the use of more
complex tools.
Ptolemy used an approximation method based on interpolation, which is still used by some
amateurs. This method consists of recording the declination angle at noon during some days
before and after the solstice, trying to find two separate days with the same declination. When
those two days are found, the halfway time between both noons is estimated solstice time. An
interval of 45 days has been postulated, as the best one to achieve up to a quarter-day precision,
in the solstice determination.[12]

[edit] See also

· Midsummer · Analemma

· Summer solstice · Iranian calendar

· Winter solstice · Zoroastrian calendar