The Sun is directly overhead at “high-noon” on the equator twice per year, at the two equinoxes. Spring (or Vernal) Equinox is usually March 20, and Fall (or Autumnal) equinox is usually September 22.

Our amount of daylight hours depends on our latitude and how Earth orbits the sun. Similarly, the sun’s energy spreads out over differing geographic areas when it reaches Earth’s surface. It is more concentrated during our summer months when the sun is higher in the sky.

The sun’s rays strike Earth’s surface most directly at the equator. Because the sun’s rays hit at a slant, the area is heated less. The more focused the rays are, the more energy an area receives and the warmer it is; the less focused the rays are, the less energy an area receives and the cooler it is.

The Equinox (Vernal & Autumnal) There are only two times of the year when the Earth’s axis is tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, resulting in a “nearly” equal amount of daylight and darkness at all latitudes. These events are referred to as Equinoxes.

During the summer solstice, the Sun shines most directly on the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north of the equator, giving its most direct energy on Earth to the Northern Hemisphere.

The equator

Yuma

Iceland

You must be surprised to know this but it is true. So let’s know about this city. The town is the Hammerfest in Norway, where it is midnight. Here the sun hides at 12:43 in the night and rises at an interval of just forty minutes and the birds start chirping at around one and a half at night.

June 20

Nairobi, only 1°17′ south of the equator, has exactly 12 hours of sunlight on June 21—the sun rises at 6:33 a.m. and sets at 6:33 p.m. Because the city is in the Southern Hemisphere, it experiences its longest day on December 21.

The first day of summer 2021 is June 20 at 11:32 p.m. EDT. It’s often called the longest day of the year because it’s the day with the most daylight (every “day” has 24 hours). Summer solstice observations take many forms around the world. While it marks the first day of summer, the real heat is still to come.

And for the week or so after that, it will continue increasing at the slightly slower pace of about 2 minutes and 7 seconds per day. In fact, this time period around the vernal or spring equinox—and actually peaking at the equinox—is the time of year when the number of daylight hours is growing the fastest.

21 is 9 hours 21 minutes and 11 seconds. In just a month, our length of day increases by almost 30 minutes, picking up 9 hours 49 minutes and 57 seconds. The sunset also will happen later and later, giving you more sunshine after work.

Time is flying quicker this year as the earth is spinning around faster than it has in half-a-century. The year 2020 included 28 shortest days since 1960 and 2021 is predicted to be even shorter. …

Question: Why does the Sun rise approximately one minute later each day at this time of the year, but sunset is at the same time for a couple of days in a row? The reason for this is that Earth orbits the Sun at an irregular rate. It does not move at a steady pace, but rather speeds up and slows down.

The equinoxes happen in March (about March 21) and September (about September 23). These are the days when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, which makes day and night of equal length.

Because of Earth’s shifting distance from the sun, the time it takes for the sun to get to the same point in the sky gets later each day through the month of December. What is considered high-Noon sunlight also becomes later through the month.

As we move towards winter, the tilt of the Earth makes the days grow shorter. This naturally brings later sunrises and earlier sunsets. As we move through spring, the tilt of the Earth makes the days grow longer – we have earlier sunrises and later sunsets.

Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight, but it does not have the latest sunrise nor the earliest sunset of the year. This is because of a discrepancy between our modern-day timekeeping methods and how time is measured using the Sun known as the equation of time.

In Key West, Florida, 5:38 p.m. is the earliest the sun sets, occurring from Nov. 23 to Dec. 5. Areas north of the Arctic Circle – within 23.5 degrees of the North Pole – experience more than two months when the sun never ascends above the horizon.

At and around the equinoxes, solar days are shorter than 24 hours, yet at the solstices, solar days are longer than 24 hours. That’s why the latest sunsets always come on or near June 27 at mid-northern latitudes every year.

The longest day of 2021 for those living north of the Equator is June 21. In technical terms, this day is referred to as the summer solstice, the longest day of the summer season. It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degree north latitude.

Why does this happen? It’s all due to the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s axis in relation to our orbital plane. Because of the tilt, we experience different seasons as the amount of sunlight varies across the planet during our annual journey around the sun.