Summer Solstice — Winter is coming

The Sky This Week, 2020 June 16 – 23 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Astronomical summer officially arrives on the 20th at 5:44 pm EDT.  This is the moment when Old Sol reaches an ecliptic longitude of 90 degrees, and it also happens to be the time when he reaches his highest northern declination, with the center of his disc perched over the Tropic of Cancer.  This is the longest day for residents of the Northern Hemisphere, but the length of day varies widely with latitude.  Here in Washington we will have 14 hours 54 minutes between sunrise and sunset.  Residents of Hawai’i will only see 13 hours 20 minutes of daylight, while residents of Fairbanks will have 21 hours and 50 minutes to enjoy the Sun along with twilight to fill the remaining hours.