Solstice is one of two days of the year when the Sun is at its greatest angular distance from the celestial equator and the Sun’s height above the horizon at noon is maximum. This results in the longest day and the shortest night (summer solstice) in one of the Earth’s hemispheres, RIA Novosti reports.
This year, the summer solstice came today, on June 21 at 6.32 am Moscow time. The duration of daylight hours across the width of Moscow on this day will be 17 hours 33 minutes. In the polar latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, white nights will come and in the Arctic, the polar day. Above the Arctic Circle (at latitudes above 66.5 degrees), the Sun does not set beyond the horizon at all and the day lasts around the clock, there is a polar day. At this time, noctilucent clouds can be observed in temperate and high latitudes.
For millennia, the day of the summer solstice has been of great importance for all peoples who have lived in harmony with natural cycles and organized their lives in accordance with them. In ancient Russia, on the day of the summer solstice, the day of Ivan Kupala was celebrated. Today this folk festival is celebrated on the night of July 6-7. Russians at this time jump over fires, throw wreaths on the water, and collect medicinal herbs.
Ru-Main, 21.06.2021
