Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Baum here. On June, the Northern Hemisphere experienced its longest day of the year, the day when the North Pole is leaning most towards the sun. This year, that took place at two pm Eastern Time. This annual event is called the summer solstice. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the day of the year that the Arctic Circle receives a full twenty four hours of sunlight. The Arctic Circle is a moving
area whose parameters are dictated by the solstices. Scientists define this expanse to quote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as the latitude above which the sun does not set on the summer solstice and does not rise on the winter solstice. So during the June solstice, the entire circle goes through twenty four straight hours of sunlight. Can firstly, it has to endure a full day of darkness when
the December solstice comes around. The tourists in the far North flock to watch the sun blazing at midnight on every June solstice. This is also the day in which the sun reaches its highest point above the horizon. At noon, the sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer. That's a latitudinal line located about twenty three point five degrees
north of the equator. A similar phenomenon takes place on the December solstice, when the sun hits the Tropic of Capricorn, a southern line located twenty three point five degrees below the equator. These numbers line up so cleanly because of the tilt of the Earth on its axis, which is twenty three point five degrees. But Earth's axial tilt shifts
incrementally over time. But right now, the Arctic Circle is located a little higher than sixty six degrees above the equator, but it's creeping northward at a rate of about forty five to forty nine feet that's fourteen to fifteen meters per air. So travelers in the distant future will need to adjust their plans accordingly if they hope to catch that midnight sun. For the same reason, the name Tropic
of Cancer is now an anachronism. This term references the fact that two thousand years ago, the Sun used to cross in front of the constellation Cancer on the day of the June solstice, it now shines closer to Taurus instead. However, although no other date on the calendar witnesses more sunlight than the summer solstice, this is not the hottest day of the year for most of us in the northern Hemisphere. It's true that the days up here get progressively shorter
after the solstice. However, for several weeks in June, July, and August, the hemisphere will still receive more heat during the day than it loses at night. That's why temperatures in the northern half of the globe can to climb in mid to late summer despite their being slightly less daylight to go around, and this is because it takes a few months your winters over the land to begin storing heat. Most states in the continental US will experience their hottest day of any given year at some point
between early July and mid August. In parts of the West Coast, the hottest days are typically in September. Not all planets have similar spreads of seasons and solstices, though, for example, Urness has a mind blowing degree axial tilt. Because of this and the fact that it takes the planet about eighty four earth years to make one rotation
around the sun. The seasons are staggeringly long there. The last summer solstice in Urnaes northern hemisphere took place in and the north next winter solstice won't come until Compare that with Earth, which sees the solstice every six months. Today's episode is based on the article five things you didn't know about the Summer Solstice on House to works dot com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio and partnership with house at works dot
Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit their heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.