Summer Solstice's Arrival

—Mary Gillick, Program Director

The long summer days are finally here and nature shifts into full throttle making the most of the available sunlight.  The days just prior to June 22nd and through the July 4th weekend have close to fifteen hours of light.  That means, of course, that our nocturnal animals like owls and skunks have a shorter night.  I imagine they sleep more in the hot weather anyway.

The term solstice literally means the "sun stops."  Before civilization determined the Earth was not at the center of the universe, it was thought that the sun orbited around us.  The sun appears to move to the north on its trajectory across the sky during the spring and further to the south as autumn approaches.  We now know that it is the angle of the Earth's tilt on its axis that accounts for the change in the sun's angle.

We are now at the point in our orbit where the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun.  Oddly enough, the Earth is furthest from the Sun in June rather than in December when our orbit takes us closer.  For those of you mathematicians, we are also travelling slightly faster at that time or 1 mile a second faster. 

Our four seasons are not an equal number of calendar days for the reason that the Earth's orbit is an ellipse and the gravitational pull of the Sun exerts a stronger influence as we pass closer in winter. 

Enjoy the long days of summer with all the outdoor adventures they bring and stop by the Nature Center for a walk.  The park is open a lot longer now!