Sun Standing Still

Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice. The name derives from Latin: sol (sun) and sistere (stand still), and that derivation comes from the fact that there is a moment when the sun appears to stop in its passage across the sky.

It doesn't stop... we know that... and if you are here in the summer, we'll help you find Jupiter, and perhaps even the moons of Jupiter that helped explain to Galileo that the Sun does NOT orbit the Earth, but that's a post for Dark Skies and summer nights on Bondi's expansive lawn...

The Solstice marks the official beginning of Summer. Which means you should have booked your summer vacation with us by now, but there's still some opportunity if you are, like the Sun, apparently standing still on your list of things to do.

There are huge celebrations at sites like Stonehenge (a site I have always preferred to visit when it is empty of people, and silent but for the wind in the grass, but never mind... apparently it is right up there with the G20 for security measures in England this year)

Speaking of England, there it is referred to as Midsummer Solstice. That's from an ancient British tradition in which there were only two seasons: Winter and Summer. Or, as one of my relatives once supplied, during a bout of depression, Cold Rain and Warm Rain.

Over here, of course, we define the seasons differently.
Snow, Mud, Road Construction and Hunting spring to mind, but I digress...

The summer solstice occurs on June 21st at 1:45 EDT. At that instant the center of the Sun’s disc will be located directly above the Tropic of Cancer at a spot near the border of India and Bangladesh. This is the date of the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which yields 14 hours and 54 minutes of time that Old Sol is above the horizon. You might not be at your best at brightest at 1.45 A.M., but on the bright side, you've got lots of daylight to look forward to.

A really cool website that lets you look at the Earth in real time, to check out where night is currently falling and dawn is currently springing eternal, is Earth and Moon Viewer.

But now that summer is here, and it's official, and the lake is about 23 degrees Celsius and calling your name, it's time to get out of the city, get back to your Self, let the kids spend some time that isn't governed by a referee's whistle...

It's time, like the Sun, to Be Still, and Let your Soul Catch Up.