Solar fest in Delhi on longest day of the year
June 20th, 2011 - 3:25 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Delhi will host a solar fest Tuesday to celebrate the longest day of the year - which marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.
To mark the day, SPACE, an NGO, will celebrate a solar fest with a skit being performed at the 18th century observatory Jantar Mantar in the capital.
“To celebrate the summer solstice, SPACE will be organising a public outreach at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday, June 21. There will also be a solar fest in which a skit will be performed,” a statement said.
Explaining what the summer solstice means, the statement said: “At the June solstice, the earth is positioned in its orbit so that the north pole is leaning 23-and-a-half degrees toward the sun.”
As seen from the earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23-and-a-half degrees north of the equator, at an imaginary line encircling the globe, known as the Tropic of Cancer. The sun’s rays are directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer (the latitude line at 23.5° north, passing through Mexico, Saharan Africa, and India), it said.
“This is as far north as the sun ever gets. This results in the longest day of the year. For example in New Delhi, sunrise on summer solstice day in 2011 will be at 5:24 a.m. and sunset will be at 7:22 p.m., making it a day which is almost of 14 hours’ duration,” the statement said.
While this marks the height of summer in the northern hemisphere, it simultaneously marks the winter in the southern hemisphere.
- Delhi celebrates longest day of year with solar fest - Jun 21, 2011
- Day and night to be equal Thursday - Sep 22, 2010
- Day, night to be equal Monday - Mar 21, 2011
- Year's shortest day Wednesday - Dec 21, 2010
- Lunar Eclispe Coincides With Winter Solstice After 456 Years - Dec 20, 2010
- Winter Solstice: The Shortest Day For The Northern Hemisphere - Dec 21, 2009
- Day and night to be equally long Saturday - Mar 19, 2010
- Delhi schoolkids observe autumn equinox - Sep 23, 2011
- Watch autumn equinox at Jantar Mantar Thursday - Sep 21, 2011
- June 21st is "Go Skateboarding Day 2009" - Jun 21, 2009
- Prohibitory orders put question mark on Hazare's fast - Jun 05, 2011
- Hazare to fast to protest crackdown against Ramdev - Jun 05, 2011
- Revelers Visit Stonehenge To Celebrate Summer Solstice - Jun 21, 2010
- Jantar Mantar at centre of Jaipur tourism (With Image) - Mar 25, 2011
- 2000-year-old wooden 'Stonehenge' discovered in Ohio - Jul 21, 2010
Tags: 18th century, day of the year, equator, imaginary line, jantar mantar, latitude line, longest day of the year, New Delhi, ngo, north pole, northern hemisphere, observatory, public outreach, s rays, saharan africa, skit, solstice, southern hemisphere, summer solstice, tropic of cancer