Summer Solstice 2012: The longest day of the year today

Karachi: Thursday, June 21, is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it’s the longest day of the year in 2012 but it is also hottest day for the Pakistanis in several parts of the county.

In Pakistan the day will be 13 hours and 43 minutes ling as the sunrise will take place at 5:42 am and sunset will occur at 7:25 pm on the June 21.

The summer solstice occurs when the sun is the farthest north in the sky, directly above the Tropic of Cancer.

While some consider the summer solstice as the beginning of summer, many actually regard it as midsummer, though the definition varies between different regions and cultures.

In this day the sun remains on the summer solstice line perpendicularly/vertically for a certain time.

Through the day is observed in many countries of the world as ‘Summer Solstice Day’.

“Karachi has 14 hours longest day on the summer solstice that occurs every year between June 20 and June 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the longest day of sunlight for places in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day for cities in Southern Hemisphere”, informed Dr. Javed Iqbal, Director- Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA), University of Karachi, while sharing his views about the longest day in Pakistan.

On summer solstice, Earth’s maximum axial tilt (declination) to our star, the Sun, during a solstice is 23° 27′, he added.

Another interesting fact is that the distance between Earth and Sun is maximum on summer solstice which is vice verse for winter solstice (Dec 21-22) i.e. distance between Earth and Sun is minimum and so shortest day in Northern Hemisphere.