Happy Solstice!

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. 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.

The Summer Solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. Though the Summer Solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like Midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. Except in the Polar Regions (where daylight is continuous for half of the year), the day on which the Summer Solstice occurs is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight. Thus the seasonal significance of the Summer Solstice is in the reversal of the gradual shortening of nights and lengthening of days. The summer solstice occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere, in December in the Southern Hemisphere.
June 20-21 is a very important day for our planet and its relationship with the sun. June 20-21 is one of two solstices, days when the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines. June 21 marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and simultaneously heralds the beginning of winter in the southern hemisphere. In 2010, the solstice occurs and summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere summer begins early on June 21, 11:28 UTC (16:58 Indian Standard Time).

The earth spins around its axis, an imaginary line going right through the planet between the north and south poles. The axis is tilted somewhat off the plane of the earth's revolution around the sun. The tilt of the axis is 23.5 degrees; thanks to this tilt, we enjoy the four seasons. For several months of the year, one half of the earth receives more direct rays of the sun than the other half.

When the axis tilts towards the sun, as it does between June and September, it is summer in the northern hemisphere but winter in the southern hemisphere. Alternatively, when the axis points away from the sun from December to March, the southern hemisphere enjoys the direct rays of the sun during their summer months.
June 21 is called the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and simultaneously the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Around December 21 the solstices are reversed and winter begins in the northern hemisphere.

On June 21, there are 24 hours of daylight north of the Arctic Circle (66.5° north of the equator) and 24 hours of darkness south of the Antarctic Circle (66.5° south of the equator). The sun's rays are directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer (the latitude line at 23.5° north, passing through Mexico, Saharan Africa, and India) on June 21.

Hundreds of years ago on the summer solstice, our ancestors sat in sun-drenched fields or on stones as warm as living flesh, fashioning small round suns from straw or vines, decorating them with sun-colored flowers, honoring the mysterious, fiery light that warmed and brightened their days and made the plants grow that fed them.

The summer solstice is a perfect time to help children make a tangible connection with the earth and to connect with the sun.

No matter where you live, Happy Solstice!

Top 10 Space finds of 2009

The number one space discovery of the year is that the Sun’s oddly quiet phase might be indicative of the next “little ice age”.



At number 2 is the finding of a green “two-tailed” comet that buzzed by Earth on a one-time visit in late February.



At number 3 is the finding of water on the Moon, when NASA crashed a two-ton rocket into a permanently shadowed crater on the moon’s south pole in October.



The number 4 top space discovery of the year is that high-resolution pictures of a Martian valley revealed three-billion-year-old shorelines along what was once a body of water about the size of Lake Champlain, which is the first proof of ancient Mars lakeshores.



At number 5 is the discovery that the oldest of the subatomic particles called neutrinos might each encompass a space larger than thousands of galaxies.



At number 6 is the finding that Gliese 581d, the most Earth like planet yet found, may have liquid oceans.



The number 7 top space discovery of the year is that pictures taken in Summer 2008 showed strange globs on the leg of the Phoenix Mars lander that seemed to behave like liquid water, which could be the first proof that modern Mars hosts liquid water.
This substance is probably saline mud that splashed up as the craft landed, study leader and Phoenix co-investigator Nilton Renno of the University of Michigan had told National Geographic News.
Salt in the mud then absorbed water vapor from the atmosphere, forming the watery drops, according to Renno.



At number 8 is the discovery of 32 new planets outside our solar system, bringing the massive haul of new worlds to more than 400.



The number 9 top space discovery of the year is that Jupiter's moon Europa may harbor fish-sized life in its oceans.
A provocative new research suggested that the amount of oxygen in the ocean would be enough to support more than just microscopic life-forms, with at least three million tons of fishlike creatures theoretically living and breathing on Europa.



At number 10 is the finding that a new computer model has suggested that the outer crusts of so-called neutron stars are ten billion times stronger than steel, and are in fact, the strongest known material in the universe.