First Day of Summer

Today is the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. That means today is the longest day of the year! In case you are wondering, this also means that the sun is as far North as it gets, and our hemisphere is pointed as directly towards the sun as it can get. We live at a latitude of about 38 degrees (well, 38.3226 to be precise). You may have noticed that the sun is really NEVER directly overhead where we live. It is always south of directly overhead. If you started traveling south today, and made it all the way to 23.5 degrees, you would find that the sun was directly overhead at that point. That point is given the name, the Tropic of Cancer. So, when the sun is directly overhead at its farthest point north of the equator (Tropic of Cancer—23.5 degrees), you have the summer solstice, or the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere. If you lived in Australia, today would be the first day of winter. Onya, and G’day mate!!