Summer solstice is just around the corner: light and shadow during the year!

Summer solstice is just around the corner: light and shadow during the year!

Suhl, Deutschland - Today, on June 20, 2025, we are about to have a special astronomical event: the summer solstice, which takes place on June 21. On this day, the sun reaches its highest level in the northern hemisphere, and we can get prepared for the longest day of the year, on which we feel spoiled with light for a particularly long time. The imbalance of the earth's axis, which is responsible for the four seasons, plays a crucial role. Without this tendency there would be no different seasons and therefore not the colorful variety that the weather and nature offer us - an interesting presentation can be found in this Feature.

The heat we receive from the sun depends primarily on the position of the earth. At the beginning of July, about two weeks after the summer solstice, the earth reached its most distant point from the sun, the so -called aphel. This distance is around 152 million kilometers. It is also interesting that the light of the sun needs 8 minutes and 27 seconds to reach us. In contrast, in January, at Perihel, the next point to the sun, we are about 147 million kilometers away, which in turn has 17 seconds faster light origin. However, the seasons are primarily created by the inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic, less by the distance to the sun, as explained on [ARD Alpha] (https://www.ardalpha.de/wissen/weltall/astronomie/sterne-zeiten-zeiten- Sonnenwenden-erdauge-100.html).

the course of the year

We think about the summer, but also over the winter, which will move in with the winter solstice on December 21st or 22. On this day, the sun has a declination of -23.5 degrees, and we only have 8.5 hours of sunlight -the shortest day of the year. While we freeze here in the cold, people in the southern hemisphere can look forward to the summer joys. The spring point around March 21 and the beginning of autumn, which lies around September 23, are also important turning points that illustrate the changes in the sun.

In the northern hemisphere, the sun stands for the summer solstice 23.5 degrees north of the sky equator, which explains our longest day of the year. As Time and Date shows, the differences in the position of the sun result from the inclination of the earth's axis and the elliptical shape of the earth orbit. These two factors lead to the characteristic form of analemas, which in most regions of the world looks like an elongated eight.

the analema and its meaning

The analema not only shows us how the position of suns changes over the year, but also illustrates that there could be no real analema without the inclination of the earth's axis and a circular orbit. When the condition remains, there would be no seasons and therefore not the wonderful dynamic that nature offers us. The inclination of the earth's axis of about 23.4 degrees remains constant, while the earth moves around the sun. This constant movement increases the sun in the summer half -year more and more into the sky, while it gradually drops in the winter half -year - a fascinating view!

This is what a real spectacle of nature is facing with the approaching summer, which offers both us humans and the rest of the nature a variety of opportunities to fully enjoy sunlight and the warm days. So we pack the sunscreen and towel and we enjoy the summer to the fullest! The sky over Cologne cannot be blue enough.