Words & Music by Mike Power

At 12:24 this morning local time in NYC the sun reached it’s highest point over the north pole, and its lowest over the south pole, then stood still in the sky. It didn’t actually stand still but, according to Wikipedia, “the word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun’s path (as seen from Earth) comes to a stop before reversing direction.”

Somewhere along the line our planet’s axis, relative to the sun, got knocked a little off-kilter. The consensus among people who form such consensuses is that some large celestial body – an asteroid or another planet – slammed into us before careening away. Maybe it was the moon. In any event, the light of our sun doesn’t fall evenly across our planet during the course of a year because we’re a little wobbly. Today is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern.

 

The rotation of our planet on its axis has been slowing over time. 4.5 billion years ago a day was only six hours long. 350 million years ago, during the Carboniferous Period (late in the Paleozoic era), a day was a relatively relatable 23 hours long. But seasons, if there were any, were indistinct and the planet was mostly covered by ocean, except for the area where Pangea was forming. So, not that relatable. We’re up to 24 hours a day now, and growing.

I hope this longest day of the year (or shortest, depending on your whereabouts), is a good one for you.