3 February 2021
Every year there is a longest day and a shortest night. This is also called midsummer evening or night. Some also call it 'the summer point'.
The longest day does not mean the length of the twenty-four hour day (because of course that always remains 24 hours), but the time between sunrise and sunset.
In the northern hemisphere, this day always falls around 21 June. In 2020, midsummer's eve falls on Saturday 20 June. The longest day is the day when the summer solstice takes place. This is when the sun, as seen from Earth, reaches its highest position above the horizon. It is the start of the astronomical summer!
Do you know people who live in the southern hemisphere, say in Australia? Everything is reversed then. That's where winter starts on Saturday!
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