Watching the Seasons Change

June brings the summer solstice for those of us living in the Northern hemisphere and winter in the Southern hemisphere.  The solstice on June 21st brings the longest day (most hours of daylight) here in the north and shortest day south of the Equator.

But it doesn’t happen all at once. The earliest sunrise, at latitude 40 degrees north, was June 14th and the latest sunset June 27th.

The seasons, and hours of light and darkness change because Earth is tilted 23 degrees on it’s axis. As we orbit the Sun our hemisphere tilts toward (Summer) and away (Winter) from the Sun. When it’s Summer here our hemisphere is tilted into the Sun, the Sun tracks much higher, or further north, across our sky.

You can observe this for yourself. Go out at sunrise or sunset, get your bearings and make a mental note of how far north of east (sunrise) or west (sunset) the Sun is. When Fall or Winter come around again make the same observation and compare how much farther south the sunrise/sunset is on your horizon.

If you’re impatient and can’t wait until December check out the composite panorama image below. This image is a composite of 3 images I took looking west at sunset. Look closely at the sky and it’s easy to see where the images join. The sunset to the left was taken in November, the middle near the equinox in September and the Sun glinting through the trees to the right was taken at the summer solstice on June 21st.

Click on the image to enlarge it. Try this for yourself and enjoy the changing of the seasons!