Summer Solstice 2009

At 11:45 PM MDT, we officially hit the summer solstice, and summer begins. Here are a few "gee whiz" things about the solstice..

1) The word solstice comes from the latin "sol" for sun and "sistit", which means to stand. For several days before and after each solstice, the noontime elevation doesn't change much, and the sun appears to "stand still" in the sky.

2) At noon on the date of the solstice, the sun is directly overhead at the tropic of Cancer (23 1/2 degrees north). The only place on Earth the sun can be directly overhead is between 23 1/2 degrees north and 23 1/2 degrees south. For the rest of us, the sun is always at some angle, but for the northern hemisphere, the sun is as high in the sky as it's going to get. (For Colorado Springs, it's a bit more than 70 degrees above the horizon).

3) The solstice represents the longest day and the shortest night of the year.