The summer solstice 2019 is only a few days away, marking the longest day of the year.

Source: Pixabay

Here are 10 things to know about it:

• Friday, June 21 will mark the summer solstice, which is the day in which we have the most amount of daylight in the northern hemisphere

• Meanwhile, those in the southern hemisphere will have the shortest day of the year.

• This is because it is the point in the year in which the Earth’s north pole is tilted furthest towards the sun.

• The solstice will technically take place this year at 11:54 a.m. EDT on Friday, but the solstice happens during the entire day according to the way most of us think about it.

• Expect the summer solstice 2019 to have the shortest night of the year because our star will be at its highest point in the northern sky, directly over the Tropic of Cancer, taking it longer to rise and set.

• The solstice happens because the Earth is tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit, which makes each hemisphere tilt towards the sun or away from it, which creates season.

• The day marks the end of spring and beginning of summer, which lasts until September 23.

• The summer solstice 2019 will be on June 21, but it can happen any day between June 20 and 22 due to minor differences in the Gregorian calendar.

• Some believe Stonehenge was built about 5,000 years ago to mark solstices and equinoxes as, during the summer solstice, the sun rises over the structure’s Heel Stone, hitting the Altar Stone’s dead center.

• And yes, wear sunscreen as you may get plenty of sun on Friday if you’re outside.

Happy equinox!

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