An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

The moment in the northern hemisphere when the → Sun attains its highest → declination of 23°26' (or 23°.44) with respect the → equator plane. It happens when the Earth's axis is orientated directly toward the Sun, on 21 or 22 June. During the northern solstice the Sun appears to be directly overhead at noon for places situated at → latitude 23.44 degrees north, known as the → tropic of Cancer. The summer solstice can occur at any moment during the day. Two successive summer solstices are shifted in time by about 6 h. The summer solstice in the northern hemisphere is the → winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.

→ summer; → solstice.