Longest day of the year has come
Published 21 June, 2009, 19:37
Today is the longest day of the year everywhere north of the Equator – the day when astronomical summer comes to Northern Hemisphere.
Astronomical summer, or the summer solstice, has come to the Northern Hemisphere on Sunday.
It began at 9:45 AM Moscow time (5:45 GMT), Dr. Nikolai Zheleznov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Applied Astronomy RAS, told Interfax.
“Following the calendar and climatic summers, comes the astronomical one,” he said.
In the course of several days before and after that moment, the sun's apparent position in the sky remains at its northernmost extreme, when its position above the horizon at noon is almost the same. “The sun stands still” – this is what the term “solstice” literally means, if translated from Latin.
“This day is the longest in the Northern Hemisphere. It will last for 17 hours and 34 minutes on Moscow’s latitude,” Dr. Zheleznov added.
A record number of people have flocked this year to the famous Stonehenge in England to celebrate the summer solstice, Sky News network reports.
Despite the sun not making an appearing in an overcast sky, about 36,500 people enjoyed a carnival atmosphere at Stonehenge.
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