Showing posts with label solstice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solstice. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Video: Two cycles dance in the funniest wreck of the year

Yes, this is two wheels, not four, but it's two that makes four. Just watch:
 


Somebody turn a hose on those two cycles, quick! (And no, I don't know why there's Bugs Bunny performing square-dance music on there. Just bow to your partner and roll with it.).


 this wreck was "Sur le circuit de Magny-Cours, Ă©preuve du championnat Promosport : deux pilotes chutent et leurs motos s'entremĂȘlent et continuent de tourner au sol!" Exactly what I was thinking.


For those of you who don't read French, our  (didn't know we had that, did you? Corporate synergy!) says that means "On the circuit of Magny-Course, test of the Promosport championship: two pilots fall and their motor bikes intermingle and continue to turn on the ground!" The French: masters of the obvious.
Anyway, don't try this at home. Please.

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Why is June 21 Both the Summer and Winter Solstice?

The summer solstice occurred today at 1:16 p.m. EDT (17:16 GMT), the time the sun is at the highest point possible in the sky. In the Northern Hemphisphere, June 21 is the longest day of the year and marks the official beginning of summer.

  • summer solstice 2011

    People attend the annual summer solstice at the Stonehenge monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, southern England June 21, 2010.

    Lunar Eclipse 2008
  • lunar eclipse

Today, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun more than any other day in 2011. The summer solstice is a result of the Earth tilted on its axis 23.4 degrees in the direction of the sun, exposing most of the Northern Hemisphere to sunlight.
Solstice is derived from Latin words meaning, "sun stands still." The summer solstice occurs when the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer.
For the Southern Hemisphere, everything is opposite. Today is the actually the beginning of the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year for the Southern Hemisphere.
Wherever a person is on the earth today, solstices occurred at the exact moment across all global timezones
Even though on June 21 is the day that the Northern Hemisphere receives the most sunlight in 2011, it is not necessarily the hottest day of the year. Since it takes several weeks for the earth to release the heat from the sunlight, the hottest days in summer are usually in July or August.

Monday, 20 June 2011

The longest day – Summer Solstice 21st June 2011

Solstice Sunset Credit:Adrian West
June 21st, 2011 is Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year.
This is the time when the Sun is at its highest or most northerly point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere and when we receive the most hours of daylight. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere it is the reverse, so you will be having “Winter Solstice.”
Also known as “Midsummer” the Summer Solstice gets its name from the Latin for sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). The Sun reaches its most Northerly point and momentarily stands still before starting its journey South in the sky again until it reaches its most Southerly point “Winter Solstice”, before repeating the cycle. This is basically how we get our seasons.

It’s not actually the Sun that moves North or South over the seasons although it may appear so. It’s the Earths axial tilt that causes the Sun to change position in the sky as the Earth orbits the Sun throughout the
year.
Why Are There Seasons
The angle of the Sun and the Earth's seasons. Image credit: NASA
Summer Solstice/ Midsummer is steeped in ancient folklore especially in Northern Europe with the most famous place directly related to it being Stonehenge, where the sun has been worshiped for thousands of years.
Stonehenge Credit: bistrochic.net
The Sun reaches its most Northerly point in the sky at 17:16 UTC momentarily and from that point forward starts to make its way South. This means the days will get shorter and shorter until Winter Solstice in December.

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