Summer Solstice, 2021 – Local Noon

Griffith Observatory marks the start of summer in the northern hemisphere with a live online talk focused on the Sun as it reaches its highest point in the sky at local noon. Observatory staff will discuss the meaning of local noon and show how the Sun’s changing path across the sky causes seasonal changes. Learn more about the seasons here.

Summer begins in Earth’s northern hemisphere at 8:32 p.m., PDT, today. Winter begins in the southern hemisphere at the same time. The June/summer solstice occurs when the Sun reaches its maximum declination (23.5 degrees). This is when the northern hemisphere of Earth is tilted as far toward the Sun as possible during a given year.

From the spring equinox until the start of summer – the summer solstice in June – days became longer, and the noon elevation of the Sun increases. This happens because the Earth’s axis is tilted 23½ degrees to its orbit. Today marks the longest day of the year.