The solstices are two moments of the year when the sun reaches its positions southernmost and septentrional compared to the plan of the celestial or terrestrial equator. On the celestial sphere it reaches then its larger variation, positive (+23° 26 ') or negative (- 23° 26 '). On the surface of the Earth, it spends these days exactly to the zenith to midday for the places located on both tropics: Tropic of Cancer in north, Tropic of Capricorn in the south.
The Jour of the summer solstice is longest of the year whereas the winter solstice marks longest Nuit of the year, but the dates of the summer and winter solstices are reversed for the hemisphere S Northern and Southern, thus of course that the seasons which follow these dates traditionally.
Summer solstice
The summer solstice is thus the date of the longest Jour of the year, and consequently of the shortest Nuit, in a hemisphere: hemisphere Northern in June, hemisphere Southern in December.The dates of the solstices can be calculated on the site of IMCCE. For example the date of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere in 2006 is on June 21st with 12:26 min UTC. But the solstices (as well as the equinox S) are astronomical phenomena independent of the observers and there is interesting to notice, expressed in hours UTC or UT to remain universal, the variations of the date of the solstices in the calendar year since the creation of the Gregorian calendar (1582). This variation is caused by the difference in duration between the calendar year (365 or 366 days) and the real duration of the Tropical year (approximately 365,2422 days
In the Gregorian Calendar created in 1582, the summer solstice can occur the 19,20,21 or June 22nd. It occurred one June 20th in 1896 and will fall again on this date in 2008. It occurred one June 22nd in 1975 and will fall again on this date at the beginning of the 23rd century then into 2302. The summer solstice will fall one June 19th into 2488 and it will be the first time since the creation of the Gregorian Calendrier.).
The summer solstice corresponds to the beginning of the be and is often the occasion of festivals: fires of the Holy Jean Baptist for the Christians (which takes place on June 24th, the shift compared to the solstice being due to the secular drift of the various successive calendars) but also the Fête of the Music since a few years.
Winter solstice
The winter solstice is thus the date of the shortest Jour of the year, and consequently of the longest Nuit, in a hemisphere: hemisphere Northern in December, hemisphere Southern in June.Since the creation of the Gregorian Calendar (1582), the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere falls the 20, the 21, the 22 or on December 23rd. It in general falls the 21 or on December 22nd. It fell one December 23rd in 1903 and it will be necessary to await the beginning of to see it falling again on this date. It fell one December 20th, 10 time at the end of the 17th century and will fall again on this date at the end from the 21e century and the end from… . The winter solstice marks, in a certain number of cultures, the first day of the winter and is generally associated with a Bank holiday, such as for example the Roman Saturnales , Hanoucca in the Jewish religion , Kwanzaa for some Afro-American S or Christmas, old pagan festival comparable by the Christian religion .
Internal bonds
Simple: Solstice
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