When is the Summer Solstice?
Summer Solstice 2012
In the Northern Hemisphere the date of the 2012 Summer Solstice is 20 June at 23:09 UTC
In the Southern Hemisphere the date of the 2012 Summer Solstice is 21 December at 11:12 UTC
Countdown to the Summer Solstice
There are 136 days until the Summer Solstice.
There are 3271 hours until the Summer Solstice.
What is the Summer Solstice?
At the time of the Summer Solstice the Sun reaches its highest point in Earth's sky. It's at this time that the Sun takes the longest amount of time to cross the sky, giving us the longest day of the year.
The Summer Solstice is caused by the tilting of the Earth's axis so that the north pole is nearest the Sun.
The date of the Summer Solstice marks the start of the summer. After this date the days grow shorter until the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year.
The name "Solstice" comes from the Latin for "Sol" (sun) and "sistere" (to stand still). The name solstice was given to this time of the year because the Sun appears come to a stand still in its movement north or south.