The Longer and Shorter Days

Do you know, there is one day in a year that’s longer than the others?

It is the 21st of June for Turkey and all the other countries in the northern hemisphere. It is called the “summer solstice”. Solstice means sun-stopping in the Latin language. Suns’ rising and seeing point change in the sky. It stops and its direction changes after solstice days. So 21st June is accepted as the first day of astronomical summer. The day times start to get longer after 21st December which is called “winter solstice” till 21st June. On this day, it reaches the longest hour of day time so summer days are longer. We can get hours of sunlight.

Why do the hours of day time or night time change? It’s because the Earth orbits the sun. When summer comes, the northern part of the Earth tilts towards the sun. So, the northern hemisphere gets more sunlight and the day time is longer than the night time.

On 21st December, just the opposite of summer solstice happens. The Earth's northern half tilts away from the sun, so the days are shorter and the nights are longer. The winter solstice is also accepted as the first day of winter.