Summer Solstice that produces the year’s longest day on the Northern Hemisphere and longest night in the Southern Hemisphere will take place tomorrow (on Tuesday).

 

This means all countries lying north to the equator including India will witness the longest day duration and shortest night duration while exactly the reverse will happen in the countries lying south of the equator.

 

Summer Solstice can be interpreted as the astronomical phenomenon where in the axis of the earth would be inclined towards the Sun at its maximum of 23’ 26” indicating the peak of the summer. In other words, it can be understood as the Sun’s maximum tilt towards the north away from the equator. In astronomy and astrology, this is interpreted as the northern most latitude of Sun in its orbits in the universe.

 

As a result of the phenomenon, one has to understand that the duration of day time in the northern hemisphere will start decreasing gradually while the day time duration in the southern hemisphere will start increasing from June 22 onwards.

 

On September 22, the day time duration and the night time duration any where on the earth except for on the South and North poles will be equal.

 

As Sun moves towards its southern latitudes from September 23 onwards, the reverse phenomenon will take place resulting in the gradual increase of night time in the northern hemisphere to cause the winter solstice on December 22, 2011. India and other countries in the northern hemisphere will witness the longest night on this day.