The Sky This Week, 2011 June 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Due to the complex interplay between modern timekeeping and the elliptical nature of Earth’s orbit we’ll experience the year’s earliest sunrise on the 14th. Here in Washington this occurs at 5:42 am EDT. Old Sol will then gradually begin to rise a tad later thereafter, but the time of sunset is still moving slightly later each night. We won’t experience the latest sunset until the 28th, when the Sun will go down at 8:38 pm. Sandwiched in between is the solstice itself, and it is on this day that we experience the longest duration of daylight for the year with the Sun above the horizon for 14 hours and 55 minutes. Summer is almost "officially" upon us!

The Sky This Week, 2011 June 7 – 14 — Naval Oceanography Portal