The Earth reaches its point of aphelion at July 4, 2020, 7:34 AM EDT. At this precise moment, the Earth is at its greatest distance from the Sun of any time of the year. This occurs in the summertime over the northern hemisphere. Some people mistakenly believe that summer is caused to the Earth being close to the Sun, but … Continue reading
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE: Today is the first day of summer for the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year. On this day, the Sun reaches it’s maximum northern declination of the year. Thus, this day is the winter solstice for the southern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year for the lands south of the equator. For a detailed … Continue reading
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE is the northernmost extreme of the Sun’s annual passage through the zodiac. In 2020, the Sun reaches this point at precisely 5:44 PM EDT on Saturday, June 20. The day when this event occurs is also commonly called “the summer solstice,” which is “the first day of summer” and “the longest day of the year.” On the … Continue reading
SPRING BEGINS at 4:58PM EDT on March 20. This is the moment of the vernal equinox, when the Sun is centered on the celestial equator, where traditionally day and night are balanced. Some know-it-all types like to mention “equilux” instead of “equinox.” This is some newfangled pedantry that presumes to correct the traditional definition of “12 equal hours of day … Continue reading
WINTER SOLSTICE: Winter begins for the northern hemisphere on December 21 at 22:23 UT (5:23 PM EST). This is the precise moment when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of the year. For this reason, December 21 is the shortest day of the year. As seen from the northern hemisphere, the noon Sun is lowest in the sky of … Continue reading
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS: It’s that time again! This Sunday, we all get back that extra hour of sleep that we lost back in the spring. At 2:00 AM Sunday morning, the clocks “fall back” an hour. Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends and we revert back to standard time. Enjoy that extra hour! But the evening darkness will now arrive early, which … Continue reading
FALL BEGINS at 1:54 UT on September 23, which is 9:54 PM EDT on September 22. At this moment the Sun is centered over the celestial equator. The Sun’s rays graze the North and South poles, and everywhere in between experiences equal 12 periods of daylight and nighttime. This is thus the first day of fall for the northern hemisphere, … Continue reading
WINTER SOLSTICE: Everybody knows that December 21 is the shortest day of the year but not many people know why. The Sun reaches its maximum southern declination of the year. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, that means the noon Sun is lowest in the sky of any date of the year. From latitude 40 degrees north (New … Continue reading
In our newsletter and in our Signs & Seasons curriculum, we simply try to point out the easily-observable aspects of Classical Astronomy that are usually overlooked in our modern generation. One of those aspects is the varying length of shadows over the span of the year. As the Sun moves through the zodiac constellations over the annual cycle of the … Continue reading
